


The Witch's Familiar

by Nekoamamori



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Lokitty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-02
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-03-25 19:45:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 47
Words: 94,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13841718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nekoamamori/pseuds/Nekoamamori
Summary: You're a witch working with the team.Thor brings Loki to live at the Avenger's tower after the events in New York.  Problem is, Loki is in cat form and refuses to change back.





	1. Chapter 1

    “Hey kid, what’s in this punch? It’s delicious!” Tony’s voice came from the kitchen of the Avenger’s tower. You were curled up happily on your favorite couch until the interruption.

    “I’m 500 years old. Just because I look like I’m 20 doesn’t mean I’m a kid!” you shouted into the other room before the rest of what he said registered. “What punch?” you added, looking up from the spellbook in your lap.

    Tony stepped into the living room and held up a clear glass of purple liquid. You jumped to your feet, drawing your wand from where it lived wrapped around your wrist pretending it was a bracelet, in the same movement. “Stark, you dumbass. Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to drink strange liquids in _cauldrons_?” you demanded. He dropped the glass immediately, horrified. A swish of your wand and it vanished before it hit the ground where it would have shattered.

    “Clint said it was punch!” Tony protested.

    “Seriously? You trusted Clint?! _Ask_ the witch before you go drinking my potions without permission,” you growled at him, summoning a book to try to find a spell that would counter that potion.

    “Oh god, what is it?” he demanded. You couldn’t help laughing as all of the hair on his head began falling out.

    “It’s a hair removal potion,” you told him dryly as you flipped through the pages of your book.

    “Clint! I’m going to kill you! And _you_ why do you leave dangerous potions lying around? Fix it! Fix it!” Tony whined as his hair fell to the floor. You caught a glimpse of Clint up in the ceiling tiles recording the hilarity.

    “I left the _potion_ in the _cauldron_ to cool so I could bottle it for Pepper, Nat, Jane, Darcy, and the ladies in SHIELD,” you reminded him that it was dumb to drink unknown liquids out of a cauldron. “ _You_ should be smart enough not to drink a strange potion out of a cauldron,” you grumbled. “Now hold still,” you ordered when you found the spell. You pointed your wand directly at Tony’s nose and spoke the reversal while he tried not to cringe away from the wand in his face. His hair was instantly back to normal. “I take it my potion is cool now,” you added dryly as you placed your wand against your wrist. It obediently curled around your wrist so it looked like a slim wooden bangle. You didn’t need the wand for all magic, but it helped. You went to the kitchen to begin bottling the potion so you could send it out to the girls. You kept a bottle for yourself and Nat and teleported the rest to their recipients. The bottles were labelled with the instructions for the potion’s use.

    Tony was still grumbling when you were done. “Stark, I’ve been living here for 6 months. It’s not _my_ fault that you haven’t learned to leave potions alone,” you reminded him sourly before he could start on you again. You’d been recruited by Coulson for the Avengers about six months ago. It seemed like a good opportunity, steady income, and sure beat living alone. The team was welcoming and didn’t seem to care that you were 500 years old. Thor minded least of all, since he was over 1,000. You’d become good friends with the Asgardian and hoped he would be coming back from Asgard soon.

    *

    “Y/N, are you helping Pepper at the office tomorrow?” Tony asked at dinner that night. You kinda floated around helping out whoever needed help at that time. You spent a lot of time at Stark Industries.

    You shook your head. “I’m subbing at the Academy tomorrow.” You taught some classes occasionally at the nearby magic school. “And Strange wants me to stop by and help him with some of his students at the sanctum. Did Pepper need me for something?”

    “Nothing urgent. Can you come to the office Tuesday?” Tony asked. You nodded.

    “Did Thor say when he was coming back?” Cap asked the table at large.

    “He should be back tonight,” Nat replied, “Unless the business on Asgard takes longer than expected. He said he’d let us know if he was being delayed. How, I don’t know,” she added before anyone could ask.

    As if speaking his name summoned the man, the lights of the Bifrost appeared outside of the tower. “Speak of the devil,” Tony commented.

    You went to the elevator a minute later with everyone else to greet Thor when he had made his way up to the main floor and welcome him home. “Friends! I have returned!” Thor boomed when he stepped off the elevator. He was holding a gorgeous black cat by the scruff of its neck.

    “Thor! That’s not how you hold a cat!” you protested and ran over to him to take the cat from him. “It’s alright, kitty, I’ve got you. You’re ok,” you soothed the angry cat as you cuddled him to your chest, cradling him properly and petting him so he’d calm. “Ouch, stop that. I’m not hurting you,” you scolded when the cat dug his claws into your arm. His claws retracted when you did nothing more than pet his soft black fur. “Who’s a handsome soft kitty?” you cooed at him.

    Thor had gone around hugging everyone or shaking hands or clapping shoulders depending on his recipient. “So what’s with the cat?” Tony asked, gesturing to you and the still stressed cat in your arms. At least he wasn’t actively squirming and yowling.

    “My brother will be living with us from now on,” Thor answered. Everyone was outraged by this news. It didn’t bother you, so you continued petting your charge. You were a witch and loved cats, especially gorgeous soft black ones.

    “But what’s with the cat?” Tony interrupted the arguments.

    Thor’s puppy-like excitement faded to sorrow. “Father ordered that Loki had to come live on Midgard as punishment and recompense for his transgressions. He says he did not act on his own will, but Father refused to believe him. When Loki found out about the order, he turned into a cat and has refused to change back since. I hope that once he has lived with us for a few days he’ll finally turn back again...” Thor didn’t sound like he thought that would happen anytime soon.

    The cat squirmed in your arms, making an unhappy cat noise. “Ok, ok,” you told him and set him down carefully.

    “ _That’s_ Loki?” Tony demanded as the cat sped off to hide from all of the people. Thor nodded sadly.

    “If this is a joke, it’s not funny-” Cap started, but stopped when he saw Thor’s face.

    “I wish it _were_ a joke. I want nothing more than to have my brother back...” You went to hug Thor.

    “He’ll change back when he’s ready. He’s probably scared that no one here will accept him, will reject his story without even listening, like it sounds like Odin did,” you told him. You saw the little black cat watching and listening from under the couch. “He’ll be fine when he sees that we’ll give him a chance,”

    “I hope you are right, Lady Y/N,” Thor answered.

    You set a comfortable pillow on the other side of your couch in the livingroom, an invitation in case Loki came back, or wanted to visit. The others were arguing about precautions and arrangements. You went back to your spellbook, reading up on the lesson plans for the classes you were subbing tomorrow.

    *

    There was no sign of Loki besides bright green eyes watching the team that night. Thor loudly announced before he finally retired that he was leaving his bedroom door open and Loki was welcome to join him. Poor Thor was trying so hard. You clapped him on the shoulder. “Patience, Thor. He’ll warm up,” you told him gently.

    “What do you know about it?” Tony asked, annoyed by your optimism and willingness to give Loki a chance.

    You rolled your eyes. “Stark, I’m a witch. I know cats,” you reminded him, noting the green eyes watching the exchange from under one of the empty chairs.

    *

    The next morning you got off the elevator and a black shape nyoomed up to you, twining around your legs in an attempt to trip you, or get attention. You laughed and scooped the cat up. “Morning Lokitty,” you told him with a smile. He made a ‘mert’ sound, indignant that you hadn’t fallen over. “Oh, hush, I’m not that easy to trip, silly ball of mischief,” you told him as you settled him automatically on your shoulder. He hesitated, like he was trying to decide whether to jump down from your shoulder or scratch the hell out of you. Instead he settled more comfortably, and even purred ever so softly. You smiled and reached up, scratching behind his ears. “You’re the softest cat I’ve ever met,” you told him. He preened under the praise.

    “You _do_ remember that he tried to take over the world, right?” Tony asked as you walked into the dining room with Loki on your shoulders. Loki hissed at Stark in reply. You patted his head soothingly.

    “As I would expect of any cat given the opportunity,” you replied and stuck your tongue out at Tony when he started spluttering. “Besides, Thor said his story is that his actions were under mind control or something, right?” you asked Thor, who nodded. “Everyone deserves a second chance,”

    “You’re way more generous than any sane person,” Tony grumbled.

    “I’ve been given second chances before, and I’ve been through mind control before,” you shot back. “Mind control is a very valid excuse,”

    “He has managed to trip everyone this morning except you,” Thor told you, sounding impressed. You were busy building a plate of eggs and sausage from the dishes in the middle of the table. “He won’t eat,” Thor added, sounding sad, but with a hint of hope that you might be able to somehow fix his brother. That was a lot of responsibility.

    “What did you try feeding him?” you asked as you tore off a small piece of sausage to offer to the Lokitty, who turned his nose up at it. You popped it in your mouth instead. Thor gestured to the spread on the table. “Picky kitty,” you commented. You set Loki down on the table next to your place. “Only because your brother is worried about you,” you warned him. You weren’t going to be making him special meals all the time. You summoned a little plate of cooked shredded salmon and set it next to Loki. He rubbed himself under your hand, purring. “You’re welcome,” you told him absently and sat down to eat your own breakfast. The others stared. “What? I said I’m good with cats,” you reminded them all.

    “Um... Y/N, you _do_ understand that he’s not really a cat, right?” Cap asked.

    “Yes, but he’s pretending to be...which is pretty normal for cats come to think of it. They all think they’re gods anyway,” you shrugged and went back to your breakfast. Loki gave you an appraising look, but ate his breakfast, so you let him be.

    The team discussed what they’d be doing that day while they ate and poured as much coffee down their throats as they could. When you had finished, you vanished your plate, magically cleaned, back to the cabinet and scratched Loki behind the ears. “I have to go do work,” you explained when he looked up at you and mewed. “No, you can’t come today,” you added. “I’ve gotta get to class before the students get stupid and blow up the classroom, again. See you guys later. I have my phone if something comes up,” you told them. You used magic to change into your teacher’s robes and teleported off to the magic school.

    *

    A long, long day of teaching kids at magic school and adults at the santcum later, you finally got to teleport back to the tower. Before you did, you got a message on your phone. _Don’t take the collar off the cat_ was the message from Tony. You wondered what that was about, but shrugged, figuring you’d find out when you got home.

    A quick teleport had you back in the living room of the tower. A black blur came running up to you, meowing indignantly. You laughed and reached down to scoop up the kitty, noting the green collar around his neck with the bell on it. It felt of technology and magic. “Was that Tony mean to you, and put a collar on you, Lokitty?” you asked him as you cuddled him to your chest. He mrowed indignantly. “Sorry, I’m not allowed to take it off,” you told him. He mewed and gave you a pathetic look. You carried him to your couch and curled up there with a book, summoning a cup of tea, which floated beside you as you held the book in one hand and pet the Lokitty in your lap with the other. Loki was hesitant to stay in your lap, unused to kindness. You didn’t force him, but he eventually settled there and purred softly, tentatively.

    “No, you can’t have my tea,” you told him awhile later, pulling him away from your teacup before he stuck his nose in it. He mrowed and tried again to get your tea. You sighed. “Fine, fine,” you agreed and poured some of the tea into the saucer, setting it on the air near him. “There, that’s your tea,”

    “Y/N, have you seen Loki?” Tony asked. Loki looked up from your lap and hissed at him.

    “Stop that,” you scolded, poking his nose. “He’s here. Obviously,”

    “You didn’t take the collar off, did you?” Tony asked, concerned as he stepped closer.

    You shook your head. “No, you told me not to. Why?”

    Tony sighed. “He still has his powers in that form. We can’t trust him, especially since he won’t turn human again and actually talk to anyone. That won’t keep him from turning back, or using his powers, just limit them so he doesn’t hurt anyone,” you heard an unspoken ‘including himself’ and wondered what Loki had done to actually worry Tony. “Thor’s upset we had to do it, but he finally agreed that we cant just let Loki teleport wherever he wants...”

    “You weren’t expecting him to actually be broken enough to stay in cat form, despite what Thor said? You thought he was faking the emotions?” you asked, feeling some of Tony’s own feelings.

    “It’s really annoying when you do that,” Tony grumbled at you, glaring.

    You shrugged. “It’s not something I actively do,” you reminded him. “He’ll heal if we’re kind to him and give him a chance.” You picked up Loki off of your lap and set him on the pillow at the end of your couch. You floated his tea over to him. “I have to make dinner. And a potion. You behave,” you told him. Like that would work.

    So you made dinner in one pot and stirred a potion for Nat in the cauldron. “Lokitty, get off my potion book,” you sighed and lifted the cat, moving him so you could read the next line. Thirty seconds later. “Lokitty, I need to read that,” you grumbled at him and moved him to another counter. Thirty seconds later. “Seriously, cat, off my spellbook,” you grumbled and dropped him to the floor, where he yowled indignantly. Thirty seconds later you created a ball shield slightly bigger than the cat and shoved him inside of it, floating it in the air behind you. “Off of my book,” you told him while he yowled in timeout. At least you’d learned over the years to make the timeout ball soundproof.

    “Y/N, what are you doing to the cat?” Nat asked from the doorway.

    “He wouldn’t stay off of my potion book while I was trying to read it. He’s in timeout,” you replied absently as you worked on Nat’s potion.

    “How is that even blocking his magic?” Thor asked, watching amazed as Loki worked to get out.

    You shrugged. “It’s a tricky spell. I’ve had 500 years to perfect it. With how good at sorcery he is, it should give me just enough time to finish this potion before he figures out how to get out of it,”

    “Why have you had to perfect it?” Nat asked, helping you with the dinner pot so you could focus on the potion.

    “I’ve had a few familiars over the years. The cats that attach themselves to witches always gain magic of their own and they always pull the same kind of shit,” you explained as you began to bottle Nat’s potion. It was still bright pink, though. “It’s done, but don’t use it until it turns blue,” you told her as you used magic to affix the instruction labels to the bottles.

    You heard the shield pop behind you and caught Loki before he could fall to the floor. “Knew you’d figure it out,” you told him proudly while he made indignant cat noises. You set him gently on the floor when he squirmed. “You’re a god, and above barfing in my shoes in revenge!” you called after him when he left the room with his tail high. He didn’t dignify that with an answer.

    You gave him tuna for dinner in apology and he warmed back up and even purred softly. He spent the evening curled on his pillow on your couch with his saucer of tea and a book held in front of him with his own magic while he read it.

    You smiled and realized how much you’d missed this, it had been a long time since you spent a quiet evening reading with a familiar. He wasn’t a real familiar, of course and would turn human again soon. Thor seemed hopeful when he saw that Loki was at least spending the evening in the living room with the team tonight. You didn’t think it would be quite that easy.


	2. Chapter 2

    “No,”

    “Mrow!”

    “Lokitty, no, you can’t come with me,”

    “Mrow!!”

    “You’re being a brat,” you informed the cat who was trying again to climb into your arms so you would take him with you. “You can’t come with me. I’m going to Stark Industries to help Tony and Pepper with something. You don’t even _like_ Tony. I’ll come play with you after I help them,” you reassured him and scratched behind his ears. You made sure he was set up with his comfy pillow, a few books to choose from, plenty of tea and food. You held your arm out, your hand open and waiting in a pose that Thor took often when he was summoning Mjolnir. Your broomstick flew to your hand in much the same manner. Loki watched, clearly interested. “No, it’s not really like Mjolnir. It’s an enchanted broom, others can ride it too, but I have to give them permission first, elsewise, it’s just a broom.”

    You said goodbye to Lokitty again and, broomstick over your shoulder, you took the elevator up to the flight deck. You didn’t feel like teleporting, plus the press and fans got a kick out of seeing you fly as much as they did Ironman and Thor. You mounted your broom and kicked off hard, delighted as ever at the rush of wind in your hair as you took to the skies. You dove toward the ground, pulling out of the dive just above traffic and flew to Stark Industries, letting people get a good look at you in your trademark black witch’s hat and black Harry Potter style cloak that the movies called ‘robes’ that you wore over your normal clothes.

    It didn’t take long to fly to Stark Industries and you left your broom on Happy’s security desk when you got there. “Miss Potts is in her office,” Happy told you as he set your broom behind his desk carefully.

    “Thanks, Happy,” you told him as you breezed passed security. People nodded greetings to you as you passed them in the halls. You were well known around here, especially when you were wearing your hat and robes.

    “Hey, Pepper. Did you get the potion I sent?” you asked as you entered Pepper’s office.

    She smiled. “Yes. I also got the video of Tony drinking it. Thanks for that,” she added with a laugh. You sat in the chair she offered and you spent a little while catching up over tea. And watching the video of Tony losing his hair.

    “Stark said you needed help with something?” you finally asked.

    She laughed again. “He needs help in the lab and didn’t want to ask himself,” she replied. You rolled your eyes, but were laughing when you left her to go find out what Tony needed.

    It took you, Bruce, Tony, and a brief appearance by the Hulk to fix the damage Tony had done to the arc reactor cooling system.

    *

    You staggered back into the tower after the long draining day and set your broom next to the elevator on the launch deck, there was a little stand set up there especially for it. Despite the fact that you were disgusting, covered in grease, oil, coolant, and rubble from the day’s activities, your first stop was the living room. “Lokitty?” you asked, surprised when he didn’t come running up to you. He’d seemed so sad when you left that morning. You saw that he was missing from his comfy pillow on your couch. It looked like the tea and food hadn’t been touched either. “Lokitty?” you asked again more loudly, but there was no sign of the black cat. Apparently he hadn’t missed you as much as you thought he would. He’d complained awfully hard earlier, but maybe he was just being an indignant cat.

    Exhausted and drained from the amount of magic and physical effort Tony’s project had taken, you headed up to your room to get a much needed shower.

    You just stared in shock while tears came to your eyes when you opened your bedroom door. Every single object in your room was destroyed, shredded by tiny cat claws and teeth. Your books had been torn to pieces, clothes, blankets, stuffed animals, everything. You knew it was tiny cat claws when you saw the tiny cat in the middle of the chaos, laying in a pile of cloth that looked like it used to be your blanket. He looked smug and proud of himself.

    You dropped to your knees with tears streaming down your cheeks as you stared at the carnage. Usually you weren’t this emotional, but you were exhausted and had drained a lot of power fixing Tony’s screwup. You were on edge already and the currently fluffy god being an asshole was just the last straw on your emotions.

    Loki made a soft noise. This wasn’t the reaction he had wanted. He had wanted attention, wanted you to rant and rage and curse at him, fix the damage with a wave of your wand, and then pay attention to him for the night. He came over to you slowly and you fought back the tears to deal with him. “I know you don’t want to be here. I know you don’t even want to be on this world,” you finally told him when he sat in front of you and looked up at you sadly. “I know it wasn’t your choice and I’m sorry that you had to come live with us. I’m sorry you couldn’t come help me today. You would have gotten as gross as I am and probably yelled at by Tony for being there. It was better for you to stay here. Look, Loki, I know you just got here yesterday, and coming here wasn’t your choice. I understand if you wanted alone time, or don’t want to make friends with lowly Midgardians. But I didn’t deserve this, when I’ve done nothing but be nice to you,” you gestured at the destroyed room. “I thought we were friends...” He mewed softly and touched his nose to your hand.

    You sighed heavily and picked him up as you stood. You set him gently on the ground outside of your room. “This is going to take me all night to fix. It’s not just a swish of the wand fix, and even if it were, fixing that mess for Tony... well, this would take more magic than I can afford to use right now. So you’re going to have to find someone else to play with tonight,” he mewed and gave you the most pathetic adorable cat look. “Unless you don’t appreciate my advances of friendship at all, in which case I wish you had just said so instead of destroying everything I own...”

    You sighed again and turned your back on him to get to work picking up the scraps of paper to put in one pile and scraps of fabric to put in another so you could sort them out and hopefully figure out how to put everything back together. This really was going to take all night...

    “Lady Y/N?” Thor’s voice came from your doorway while you were working. You turned to look up at him from where you were trying to sort through the scraps of your life. He had a sad Lokitty on his shoulder. “Loki was insistent I come here. What happened?” he asked, staring at the carnage around you.

    “We’re not having a good day,” you replied heavily. You gestured around the room. “I think it’s safe to say Loki wasn’t happy with me. Either this morning for leaving him or for trying to be his friend. I haven’t figured out which yet,” you sighed and tried to give Thor a smile. He was usually so upbeat and optimistic. “Thanks for checking on me, Thor, but if I’m going to get this cleaned up enough that I don’t have to sleep on the couch, then I need to get back to work,”

    Loki mewed pathetically. “I’m sorry, Brother. This is a mistake I cannot fix for you. Maybe one of these days you will learn that you actions have consequences and to take others’ feelings into account before you act. For now, all we can do is let Lady Y/N fix the mess you made and hope that she might forgive you someday for hurting her so.” Loki mewed even more pathetically. Thor pet him absently. “I will bring you something to eat when dinner arrives,” Thor told you kindly.

    “Thanks, Thor,” you replied.

    Thor yelped when Loki bit him on the ear. Hard. “Stop that,” Thor told him. Loki meowed at him and spoke in cat for awhile. He bit Thor again on the ear. “Fine. Just stop that,” Thor grumbled. He stepped into your room and offered you his hand. “My brother is quite insistent that I help him make amends. Come, Lady,” he bid you kindly. You automatically took his hand and let him haul you to your feet. The second Thor had swept you out of your room, Loki jumped down from Thor’s shoulder, into the room.

    “Lokitty!” you called, turning to get collect him from your room. He’d done enough damage already.

    Thor stepped further into the hall, bringing you with him. “Let him make amends. It is good for him,” Thor told you softly. You hesitated, but nodded. A minute and a lot of green magic later, Loki returned looking proud of himself. You rushed back into your room to see what he had done. Everything was perfectly fixed, back in place, and clean. Actually, you noticed, most everything was _too_ fixed, newer, cleaner, comfier blankets, softer fabrics, rebound books with sturdier spines on the old spellbooks. It was all identical, but new, or better. Loki twined around your legs, purring softly.

    You gave him a small smile and scooped him up into your arms. “Yes, I forgive you, silly ball of mischief,” you told him as you cradled him to your chest. “Promise not to do it again, ok?” he mrtted in agreement. “I’m sorry you couldn’t come with me. You would’ve hated it anyway. But...you’re also allowed to tell me to leave you alone. I just thought you’d like a friend...” you told him softly. His answer was to climb up on to your shoulder and purr. You smiled and scratched him behind the ears. “You better go play with Thor for a little while. I’m still disgusting from working on Stark’s arc reactor and you don’t want to be dirty too,” you reminded him. You handed him back to Thor. “I’ll be downstairs in a little bit,” you promised and shoved Thor from the room so you could shower.

    You fell asleep that evening laying on your couch downstairs. You’d fallen asleep part of the way through a movie with a Lokitty purring on your chest.


	3. Chapter 3

    A week later and no one had fessed up to carrying you to bed that night. You still had no idea how you’d woken up in your own bed when you had fallen asleep on the couch. No one was enlightening you either. In the end you blamed Jarvis, though he was the least likely person to have carried you to bed, since he was a computer system with no body.

    “Lokitty, want to go with me today?” you asked that morning when you sat down for breakfast.

    “Mrow?” he asked, looking up at you with interest.

    “You’re taking him out of the tower?” Tony demanded. Cap looked equally concerned.

    “I’m teaching at the magic school today. Plus, I can make sure he stays with me. He’ll get bored cooped up here all the time,” you reminded them. “Unless you don’t want to go?” you asked Loki. He perked up at that. “Ok, you can come with me, but,” you drew your wand and touched it to Loki’s collar. He grumbled at you while you worked. “I’m helping, now hush,” you told him firmly. “If you get bored or overwhelmed playing with the students at the magic school you can teleport home,” you explained. “Tony was an ass when he set that up and made the teleportation limits too limited,” you continued after you’d finished and began actually eating your breakfast. Loki listened interestedly then turned and stuck his tongue out at Tony.

    “How is he so annoying?” Tony grumbled. You laughed and scratched Loki behind the ears.

    “I still don’t think this is a good idea,” Cap told you. “What’s to say he won’t run off?”

    “He’s not dumb enough to run off and risk getting stuck on house arrest forever. Besides, I’ll be there. I can handle one magical cat,” you reminded him. “And he won’t make me handle him because I won’t take him out again if he does,” you added that part for Loki’s benefit. He gave you his most innocent look. You finished your breakfast. “Ready?” you asked him. After a nod, you reached for him and scooped him up, cradling him to your chest.

    “Guys, he’ll be fine,” you reminded them. “I have to get to class. Thor, I’ll let you know when I have Loki home safe, ok?” Thor nodded

    “Brother, behave,” Thor told the cat who mrowed indignantly in reply.

    “You’ll like today’s class,” you told Loki seconds before you teleported to the entrance to the school. You couldn’t teleport directly into the classroom, you had to appear just outside thanks to the shields around the school.

    “Hi, Miss Y/N,” said some of the kids as they ran past you into the school. You held Loki more securely. You straightened your spine and walked into the school faking a confidence you didn’t really feel.

    “Lokitty, I know you’re a cat, but you do have to try to behave at least a little. Don’t hurt anyone,” you reminded him. He mrowed, sounding bored. You reached your classroom and set him on your desk.

    “Is that a new familiar, Miss Y/N?” one of the students asked when he entered the room and saw Loki exploring your desk.

    “He’s still shy, though, so be careful,” you warned, not answering whether Loki was a familiar or not, because he wasn’t, but the kids wouldn’t understand that. Loki explored every inch of the classroom and sneeze adorably when he found a dust bunny. You laughed at how adorable his sneeze was. The class cooed over Loki when they saw him, but they were all smart enough not to touch the shy cat. He preened over the praise anyway. “Lokitty!” you called when the bell rang. He looked over at you and then completely ignored you. Typical cat. “Fine,” you huffed while the class laughed. “What can you tell me about familiars?” you asked them while Loki went around the classroom leaving footprints on everyone’s notes.

    “They’re animals who are companions to witches and wizards,” one of the students finally answered.

    “And why would a witch _want_ an annoying animal to be her companion?” you replied with a smirk at Loki who made an indignant noise.

    “Well, they’re good company,” one of the kids suggested.

    “They also get magic of their own, so they can be helpful-”

    “If they feel like it!” the kids all laughed at that.

    “A bond with a familiar also increases the potency of your magic,” you added. “Now, Lokitty isn’t a proper familiar, he’s just hanging out with me, but don’t let that fool you. He has more magic than any familiar,”

    “What is he if he’s not a familiar?” one of the kids asked.

    “A Master Magician. That is your proper title, right, Lokitty?” you asked. Loki turned to you and nodded before going back to leaving pawprints on all of the students’ notes. “Which brings us to today’s lesson. Turn to page 394,”

    “Werewolves?” one of the kids asked with a smirk. You nodded with a knowing smile.

    “Types of animal transformations,” you replied. “Which, yes, includes werewolves.” You went into a lecture about how werewolf transformations different from spelled animal transformation or skin walkers. “Ok, Lokitty, time to actually listen and come up here away from the students attempting magic, unless you want to accidentally get turned into something,” you told him more firmly. He huffed, but jumped off of the desk of the student he was currently annoying and trotted over to you. “Thought you’d see reason at that,” you told him and scooped him up and set him on your desk where he could watch in safety. He made a sad mewing noise until you sighed heavily and summoned a comfy pillow for him and a cup of tea. “There, annoying fluffy god,” you grumbled at him while the students giggled. “Master Magicians are more annoying than familiars,” you reassured them. “It’s possible to have some level of control over a familiar. Now, the spell we’re going to practice goes like this:” You demonstrated turning into a cat and turning back a couple of times. Loki looked on, impressed, as did the students. “Now your turn,” you told them. They jumped to their feet to try. “Remember, focus on the animal you want to become. If you aren’t thinking clearly enough of the animal and what it looks like you’re not going to be able to do it,”

    The students had varying success and you gave them the assignment of practicing as homework.

    “You doing ok?” you asked Loki when the students were gone. “You can go home whenever you want,” you reminded him. He mrowed and came over to nuzzle you. “Yes, I get it, you’re having fun,” Your phone dinged. You grinned and placed your head next to Loki’s. “Smile!” you told him, holding your phone out to get a picture. “Thor wants to know how you’re doing,” you explained after you’d sent the selfie over to Thor. Thor was getting much better at technology since he’d been here.

    *

    “What is that?” Doctor Strange greeted you later that afternoon when you teleported to the sanctum. He was glaring at Loki on your shoulders. He’d asked you to stop by and review a spell with him, so you brought Loki along.

    “This is a cat, oh holder of a PhD,” you grumbled at him with as much sarcasm in your voice as you could muster. Loki hissed softly at Strange. “Stop that,” you scolded him, bopping him on the nose. “If you can’t behave you have to go home,” you reminded him. He stuck his tongue out at you, but settled quietly on your shoulder again.

    “That is _not_ a cat,” Strange stared at Loki harder.

    “If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...”

    “That is _not_ a cat,” Strange protested again. You rolled your eyes.

    “It’s a cat. What else could it be?” you asked innocently. “You know damn well that witches like having familiars.” He thought that over, not seeming to catch that you hadn’t actually said that Loki was your familiar. Loki stuck his tongue out at Strange.

    “That’s not a cat,” Strange grumbled, but let the subject drop finally. “Keep an eye on your not-a-cat. I don’t want it causing trouble,”

    “He won’t cause trouble,” you told them both and followed Strange to where he was working on the spell. You looked it over with him and Loki peered at it from your shoulder. Between the three of you, you got the spell working and rewritten for Strange’s records. Strange didn’t comment that Loki was helping with the spell too. That was probably a good thing, though Strange was still suspicious of the cat.


	4. Chapter 4

    The group got more comfortable with Loki’s presence over the next month. He still spent most of his time with you and Thor, but the others were warming up. You spotted Nat feeding him fish and cooing at him in Russian like he was a real cat.

    Clint actually carried him into the living room one day. Both of them were covered in dirt, dust, and grime. “What have you two been up to?” you asked as you took the indignant cat from Clint before he dropped Loki and black pawprints ended up all over the tower.

    “Someone decided he needed to help me clean out the air vents,” Clint grumbled, gesturing toward the ceiling, but scratched behind Loki’s ears. He had appreciated the company.

    “Were you battling colonies of dust bunnies up there? Such a brave kitty to battle such horrible foes,” you teased Loki, but gripped him more tightly so he couldn’t squirm out of your arms. “But you are filthy and need a bath,” you told him firmly. He yowled indignantly and squirmed, but you were used to cats and held him firmly.

    You took him up to your room and placed him in the timeout ball while you got the water the right temperature for a bath. He immediately sank his teeth into your arm when you pulled him out of the timeout ball. You sighed heavily, pried his jaws off of you and firmly, but carefully placed him in the water. The sounds he made were like you were torturing him. “Hush, you. You’re a god, not a brat. You don’t want to smell like Thor,” you reminded him, wrinkling your nose. He mewed softly, pathetically, but submitted, finally. He even started purring after you had summoned your cat-wash potion to rub in his fur. Yours worked better than anything you found in a pet store and smelled nicer too.

    Finally clean, you summoned a fluffy towel. “Come here,” you told your Lokitty, who was currently looking more like a drowned gremlin than his usual handsome soft black cat. You pulled him from the tub and rubbed him dry with your magically heated towel. He was a happy purring cat in moments and you smiled at your adorable charge. Clean and dry you set him on your bed. “I need a shower too now,” you grumbled, looking at your dirty wet clothes. “No peeking,” you told him. He mrowed indignant at the suggestion and curled in a sunspot on your bed to take a nap.

    *

    There was an explosion in the tower, which wasn’t too uncommon. However what happened next was. “LOKI!” Tony’s voice roared as a black cat nyoomed into the room and hid behind your legs.

    “What’d you do?” you asked him dryly as you picked him up and cuddled him to your chest, willing to protect him as long as he hadn’t been too stupid.

    “Where’s that cat?” Tony growled as he charged into the room. He saw the cat in your arms. “Hand it over!” Tony ordered you. You cuddled Loki more securely, petting him to reassure him.

    “What’d he do, Stark?” you asked.

    “He blew up my lab!”

    “That doesn’t sound like you,” you told the cat. He was up for mischief and pranks and generally annoying people and being an asshole cat, but after the incident with your room he hadn’t been destructive or actively malicious again. “I must like you because I hate this spell,” you informed the cat as you drew your wand, with a little focus and you had cat ears and a tail. “Now, what did you do?” you asked him in cat. He just looked at you shocked and hesitated now that he knew you could actually understand him. “Lokitty, what did you do? I can’t help you get out of trouble unless I know,”

    “His calculation was wrong and caused the explosion. I tried to tell him,” Loki finally answered.

    You cleared your throat and looked at Tony, switching back to English when you spoke again. “He tried to warn you that your calculation was wrong. He tried to stop the explosion,” you told Tony. Thor and Cap had appeared to moderate the debate. You saw Clint’s head descend from one of the nearby ceiling tiles. He would speak up to defend Loki. They had spent a lot of time together in the ceiling recently and had actually become friends. The others seemed to always appear when they were needed.

    “He’s lying! He’s the god of lies,” Tony protested. Loki huffed indignantly, his tail puffing up angrily at the accusation.

    “Hush, you,” you told Loki in cat, petting his soft black fur to calm him while you held him securely and safely. “I’ve got this,” you turned back to Tony. “He’s not lying. Your calculation was wrong. Jarvis?”

    “The calculation was wrong, sir. I tried to tell you,” Jarvis’ voice came. You smirked and Loki stuck his tongue out at Tony. Tony grumbled and snarled and finally gave up on blaming Loki for his mistake. Loki leaned up and licked your cheek, nuzzling against your cheek.

    “You’re welcome,” you told him in cat. He blinked and looked at you shocked, still not over the fact that you could actually talk to him like this. You giggled in reply. “I can speak cat,” you reminded him, gesturing to the cat ears on top of your head. “But not all the time,” you were starting to get the warning pain behind your eyes that meant you needed to end this spell soon. “Anything else you wanted to say before I have to end this spell?” he looked away embarrassed instead of answering. “That’s ok, you don’t have to say anything, Lokitty,” you smiled, scratched behind his ears, and shook your head to vanish your own cat-ears, ending the spell.

    *

    “Fine, you can stay, but if you start climbing on my face or do anything else stupid and catlike to wake me in the middle of the night, you are _never_ getting another invitation,” you told Loki one night a couple months after he’d been here when he had crept after you up to your room. He had followed you up when you retired for the evening. He was trying to be quiet, but was wearing a bell, which annoyed him to no end, since he couldn’t sneak.

    You set your extra pillow flat next to yours. “That one’s yours,” you told him, pointing to the pillow. When you came back from brushing your teeth and otherwise getting ready for bed, he was curled up on the pillow sleepily purring. You smiled and climbed into bed. You kissed the top of his head between his ears. “Night, Lokitty,” you told him with a soft smile and curled up to sleep. A minute later, he was in your arms under the blankets. Typical cat. At least he didn’t do anything stupid to wake you in the middle of the night.

    *

    “Mrow?” Loki asked from your bed one Friday night. You were in a knee length dress, leaning over to apply makeup using your dresser’s mirror. “Mrow?” his tone was concerned, confused. You never dressed up, or put on makeup. Hell, most of the time you didn’t do anything with your hair beside tie it away from your face.

    “I told you I can’t play with you tonight,” you reminded him as you worked. He pouted. You sighed, hoping your room wouldn’t be destroyed again. “I have a date,” you explained. He hissed. You laughed as you looked over at him. “It’s a blind date too,” you agreed, misunderstanding his hiss. “Pepper set it up. She thinks I need to get out more, so she strong-armed me into agreeing to this,” you rolled your eyes. He still seemed upset. “I’m never here as it is, huh, Lokitty?” you asked, scratching him behind the ears before you got back to your hair and makeup.

    He was still puffed up and angry when you were dressed and ready. “What’s wrong?” you asked him. “I’ll be home in a couple of hours. I left you tea and books downstairs. Thor will be here tonight. He already said he’d keep you company,” Loki hissed and puffed up even more if that were possible. “Lokitty, I don’t know why you’re upset and I can’t do the spell to talk to you right now,” you scooped him up in your arms, picked up your heels and purse in your free hand and headed downstairs.

    You set the grumpy Lokitty on his pillow in the livingroom. “You look lovely tonight, Lady Y/N,” Thor greeted you, standing when you entered the room. You smiled at his old fashioned courtesy. It was one of the things you missed. It was becoming less and less common over the years. Thor took your hand and raised it to his lips, placing a soft kiss on your knuckles.

    “Thank you,” you replied with a smile while Loki hissed. You steadied yourself using Thor’s arm while you slipped your heels on.

    “Brother, why are you so angry tonight?” Thor asked when Loki wouldn’t stop being a fluffy ball of anger. Loki mrowed back. Thor chuckled. “Of course Lady Y/N has a date. She is lovely, a powerful witch, and a wonderful person. What man wouldn’t be interested in her?”

    “Those who aren’t open to dating a woman who is old enough to be their great-great-grandmother,” you grumbled, wondering if Pepper had actually told this man how old you were. “So most of the ones on Midgard,” you inclined your head when Thor noted that you used their word for Earth.

    “They are all unworthy of your company,” Thor told you with his usual open honesty.

    You leaned up to kiss his cheek. “Thanks, Thor. Jane’s a lucky woman,” you told him kindly, reassuring him that you weren’t interested in stealing him away from Jane. You looked at Loki. “Is that what this is about? You’re mad I’m going on a date?”

    He didn’t answer. Just looked away and stopped hissing.

    “Miss Y/N, there is a gentleman in the lobby asking for you,” Jarvis announced.

    “Thanks, Jarvis. Can you please tell him I’ll be down in a minute?” you asked.

    “Yes, Miss,”

    You turned back to Loki. “You know the solution then, don’t you?” you asked the cat. He inclined his head as if to say ‘go on’. “Pluck up the courage and ask me before somebody else does.” He just looked at you shocked. That wasn’t what he was expecting you to say.

    You kissed the top of his head between his ears while he was shocked. You kissed Thor’s cheek again, promised to check in when you got home safely (silly overprotective brother type), and left for your date.


	5. Chapter 5

    You had a bad feeling the second you saw the guy in the lobby. He was staring over all of the memorabilia all over the walls, which wasn’t bad in and of itself, most people did when they entered the lobby. He didn’t look over when you entered the room, even when your heels clacked on the tiled floor. That was the first strike against him. He was dressed...ok, though not your expectation of first date wear, slacks and a polo. You remembered men putting more effort into a first date when you were younger and actually had enough hope to actively date, but you hadn’t dated in awhile, and the times had changed. Maybe this was normal now....

    “Neil?” you asked softly, drawing his attention away from the wall of Avengers memorabilia.

    “Y/N, are these things real?” he asked, gesturing at some of the team’s old gear that was in display cases in the lobby.

    This date was getting off to a great start.

    You should have just given up then.

    “Yes, it’s all real,” you answered instead, giving this guy a chance in case he was just celebrity shocked. It happened...right?

    “Sorry, where are my manners? I’m Neil Smith,” he gave you a smile that would have been more appropriate on a used car salesman. You introduced yourself, though unnecessarily and went with him to his car.

    He didn’t stop asking questions about the Avengers the entire dinner. Seriously, nothing about you or your interests, just kept asking about the team and trying to get an invitation out of you to meet everyone else. He didn’t even say anything about himself or his work or anything.

    While he was blabbing about some time he met Cap for a signature thing at comic con, your eyes roamed the restaurant. You thought you saw a pair of extremely familiar green eyes, as your eyes scanned the room, but that was impossible. Lokitty was at home, also a cat, and wouldn’t be here. He could only teleport around the tower, or _to_ the tower. Also he was a cat and refused to _not_ be a cat.

    You had to draw your attention back to the guy at your table when he actually asked you a question only to realize it was about Cap.

    He also made you go dutch for dinner. You charged the meal to Tony’s card, blaming Pepper for tonight’s awful experience, so she could pay for it. That was the nice thing about having rich friends. You’d just have to whine at her about how awful it was later and she wouldn’t care about paying.

    You hoped that would be the end of it, but at the end of the meal he did finally start asking questions about you and seemed to show just enough interest that you felt obligated to accept his suggestion that you go out to get after dinner drinks.

    You weren’t afraid of getting drunk. You were a magical being and could outdrink almost everyone but Thor. You had learned how to pretend over the years so your college friends wouldn’t think it strange that alcohol had no effect on you, but the point remained that you weren’t afraid of the alcohol.

    “You’ll love this place!” Neil enthused as he drove. You were dreading whatever this was, your stomach sinking. You ended up at a club not terribly far from the tower. You walked in with Neil, reminding yourself that you could teleport home if things got worse. “Guys! I brought her!” Neil called, waving to a group of five or six big intimidating guys.

    You were soon surrounded, being passed drinks and being grilled on details about the Avengers by Neil and all of this friends. They were all trying to get invites to meet the team while they fangirled over every single little thing.

    You looked around the crowd, looking for a distraction and sensing magic in the air. Your eyes caught again on a familiar pair of green eyes, set in the face of, not your Lokitty, but a slim, extremely attractive man with long jet black hair. There seemed to be a faint shimmer of green around him. You turned away for an instant and when you looked again the man was gone.

    The guys kept pestering you, kept trying to feed you drinks, and you couldn’t find an easy way out of this. This was getting stupid, and dangerous. These guys weren’t going to leave you alone, and Neil had already hinted more than once that he was expecting you to invite him into the tower for sex tonight.

    You waved your hand over your purse so it made a beep. “Sorry guys, gotta check this,” you told them innocently and pulled out your phone. They had already derailed your attempts to go to the ladies room, where you could teleport away safely, more than once. You were carefully vanishing the liquids in the drinks they were handing you instead of drinking them. You had lost what little trust you had started out with in these men, but also didn’t feel that you could teleport away in the middle of them without them retaliating somehow. Even though you had magic, magic could be defeated, especially by big men with guns. You needed an excuse to get out of here safely.

    -Thor, I could use a rescue- you texted Thor, knowing he was home and waiting for word from you. He was smart enough to ask Jarvis to find you. Jarvis could track your phone easily. He would also call backup if he needed someone more Midgardian for this rescue.

    Thor burst through the doors of the club a few minutes later in his battle armor, Mjolnir in hand. He walked straight up to you, his presence and power parting the crowd as he did. You were never so grateful for his overprotective older-brother streak as you felt right that moment.

    He took in the scene and realized that you just needed an excuse to get out of here, not for him to actively kill anyone. You had all played this card for the others on the team or in SHIELD on bad dates and other awful situations. “Lady Y/N, my apologies for interrupting, something has come up and we need you back at the tower immediately,” Thor told you loudly. Since none of Neil’s friends could see your face, you let Thor see the relief in your eyes.

    You nodded at him and turned to Neil. “Sorry, I’ve gotta go.” You told him, trying to sound apologetic. He tried to say something, either begging you to stay, or saying you should do this again. Neither of those events were happening. Ever.

    You placed your hand on Thor’s arm and walked out of the club with him. “Are you alright?” he asked when you were safely away from those guys.

    “Let’s just get out of here,”

    “They frightened you,” Thor commented, stopping so he could go back and beat those guys to a pulp. He wouldn’t kill them, but he could beat them up and drive home the concept that they shouldn’t frighten ladies.

    “Thor, it was just a bad date. Please, let’s just go home,” you bid him, holding on to his arm. He looked you over, but saw the fear and tears in your eyes and decided that getting you to safety was more important. He nodded and led you the rest of the way out of the club.

    “Hold on tight,” he told you as he moved his arm from your grip to wrap it around you instead. You wrapped your arms around his muscled form, knowing what was coming next. He swung Mjolnir a few times and took to the skies, bringing you with him. Flying with Thor wasn’t nearly as fun as flying on your own, but he didn’t like teleporting so it was fair. It was only a minute before you were on the flight deck of the tower. “Are you alright?” Thor asked again when you had landed.

    You fought back the emotions enough to nod. “I’ll be down in the living room in a minute. I want to change before I devour my weight in ice cream,” you told him. “Thanks for the rescue,” you added.

    “Of course. I’m just sad you needed it,” he told you and gave you a hug. “I will be downstairs. Fair warning, Loki was in a right state when I left to get you, I don’t know what mood he’ll be in,”

    “If you see him, tell him I’ll be downstairs in a minute,” you told Thor. He nodded agreement. You kissed his cheek, kicked off your heels and headed back to your room. A quick scrub of your face had the makeup off, your hair was yanked into an ugly messy bun, and you dressed in too-big pajamas with fuzzy socks.

    Properly comfortable, you went downstairs. Thor and Lokitty were both there waiting. Thor looked anxious, even more so when he saw the tears in your eyes. “What did they do, Y/N?” he demanded, jumping to his feet. You sobbed in his arms as you told him about the awful evening. Somehow you ended up curled in Thor’s lap, his warm strong safe arms around you, while Lokitty climbed into your lap. You held Lokitty tightly and he didn’t complain about how wet his fur was getting while you sobbed and told them about your awful date and the feeling of fear of being around those men. Yes, you had powers, but nothing erased the feeling of fear of being in that situation, plus there had been nothing to say that they didn’t have powers too. They could also have easily had drugs or guns which were perfectly effective on you. For all that you were 500 years old, there were still situations that made you feel like the twenty year old mortal that you appeared to be. Tonight was one of them, and you hated that feeling of helplessness and fear.

    Your tears finally slowed and you scrubbed them roughly from your face with the back of your hand. “Sorry, guys. I shouldn’t have gotten so emotional over a simple bad date,” you told them. You scrambled off of Thor’s lap and smoothed out Loki’s fur. You realized he had been purring the entire time in that exact perfect soothing caliber that cats had a knack of using when their humans were distressed.

    “They frightened you. There is no shame in tears or emotions, and despite the circumstances, I am glad that you trusted me enough to seek my company,” Thor was searching for words.

    You gave him a small smile while Loki made an indignant noise in your arms. “You’re the brother I never actually had, Thor,” you reminded him with a smile. Thor looked touched at that. You kissed the top of Loki’s head, since he was still indignant. “Your brother adopted me as a little sister awhile ago. He’s adopted all of us as family, actually, it’s kinda what he does,” you told Loki, who calmed when he realized that you weren’t romantically interested in his brother. You settled Loki on your shoulders while you dug in the freezer for ice cream.

    You put your favorite old romance movie on the TV and settled on your couch with Lokitty and the pint of ice cream in your lap. “Mrow?” Loki was investigating the ice cream curiously. You smiled and opened the pint of the triple chocolate fudge brownie ice cream. He watched you dig your spoon into it and eat the first bite. “Mrow?” he asked again, plaintively. You smiled and offered him the spoon once it had ice cream on it again. He licked it tentatively and you laughed when you saw his eyes light up in delight. You summoned a little dish for him and dished some of the ice cream into it for him.

    “Why is your tongue blue?” you asked him while he was enjoying his ice cream. He made a grumpy cat noise.

    Thor laughed. “Don’t fear. He’s fine. The cold does strange things to Loki. If he ever deigns to change back to his usual form, he can explain it himself. It is not my story to tell.” You nodded, accepting that. Thor still had so much hope that Loki was going to change back soon.

    “You’re making Thor watch _this_ movie, eating ice cream, and made me pay for your dinner. How bad _was_ that date?” Pepper asked when she and Tony got home from their evening out. The rest of the team was right behind them and took in the scene.

    “It was awful,” you told them and went into exact details and retold the story for them while you ate ice cream and talked at the same time, fighting back tears again at the recitation.

    The team commiserated with you and swore up and down that those men were awful, Neil wasn’t worth any woman’s time, and you would find someone better. Lokitty stood up on his back paws, bracing his front ones on your shoulder to lick your cheek. You smiled at him and kissed the top of his head.

    You vanished the empty ice cream container to the trash and the spoon and dish clean to their cabinets. “Thanks for the pep talk, guys, but I think I’m going to call it a night.”

    “Mrow?” Lokitty jumped into your arms, expecting that you wouldn’t drop him or let him fall. You didn’t and cradled him to your chest instead.

    “Yes, you can come,” you told him. He didn’t always sleep in your room. He seemed to float around, some nights with you, some nights sleeping on Thor’s face, some nights in Clint’s nest in the air vents, once or twice with Nat when she was having a bad night, and exactly once with Tony when Tony was having a particularly bad PTSD episode. No one spoke of that incident.

    You climbed into bed and cuddled Loki to your chest, feeling pathetic for crying again. The evening hadn’t been _that_ bad or _that_ scary, but it was just so...hopeless. Just like all of your dates had been in recent memory. That was what really had you crying at that moment.

    Were there really no decent single men left in the world?


	6. Chapter 6

    You were plagued by nightmares that night. Your brain had helpfully decided that showing you every single possible negative outcome of your night at the club was the best way to deal with the situation.

    Stupid brain.

    So your dreams were filled with fear, death, and pain, and you couldn’t wake.

    Suddenly the dreamscape changed. You were sure you were still dreaming where there was a kiss on your forehead, soft cold lips gentle against your skin. You were extra sure you were dreaming the cool strong arms wrapping around you, holding you safely cradled against a cool chest while you slept. “Those men will not bother you ever again,” a sweet honeyed male voice with a wonderful accent. Gods, your brain was doing a wonderful job creating this imaginary man... too bad this was a dream and he wasn’t real. “Sleep, love. You’re safe. nightmares cannot harm you while I am here.” This was a dream already, but still, you listened to the words, relaxing further into a peaceful sleep.

    *

    When you woke there was, unsurprisingly, no sign of the imaginary man your brain had dreamed up during the night. There was a disheveled Lokitty in your arms who looked like he’d been squashed like a well-loved stuffed animal all night. You laughed and kissed the top of his head. “Sorry, Lokitty. Bad dreams. You should’ve just left when I started hugging you too tight,” you reminded him as you sat up cross-legged on your bed, settling the cat in the circle of your legs. He mrowed indignantly, seeming grumpy that you’d even suggest that he leave. Typical cat would only leave when he decided he wanted to. You summoned a cat brush and began brushing out the mess Lokitty’s fur had become. Nearly the second the brush touched him he turned into a purring melted puddle of happy cat. You smiled and brushed him much longer than he needed just to listen to his purrs.

    Eventually you did have to stop. You had things to do today. “I’m going shopping after breakfast. You’re welcome to come, unless you’d rather stay here and annoy Clint. I think he’s working on the AC before summer hits. And of course, when Tony designed this place he made it so the only way to get to the AC for maintenance was through the air vents. I think he did that just to give Clint an excuse to be in there.” You used magic to change into jeans and a t-shirt with your superhero logo on it, which was uncreatively your witch’s hat.

    Lokitty leapt lightly into your arms and you settled him on your shoulder. He licked your ear and you scratched behind his ears as you left the room to go find breakfast. You grinned when you made it downstairs and saw that the entire team had decided to wear their superhero logo shirts today. “Mrrt,” grumbled the Lokitty when he saw them.

    “What? Are you feeling left out?” you asked him as you set him on the table. You drew your want from its usual hiding spot as a bracelet on your wrist and waved it over the cat. A moment later his golden horned helmet was on his head, shrank and modified to fit a cat head of course. You smirked and took a picture of him preening.

    “Kid, I made pancakes!” Clint called from the kitchen.

    “I am over 400 years older than you! I’m not a kid!” you called back, but went to the kitchen to get a plate of pancakes. Lokitty followed you meowing plaintively. “I know, I know. I think every single person here knows that pancakes are your favorite,” you told him exasperated as you also grabbed his plate from Clint. “I have your plate right here. Hold your horses,” you scolded the impatient fluffy god. “If you trip me, you won’t get any,” you grumbled at him as you had to fight the cat twining around your legs on the way back to the table. At least he’d vanished the helmet before he impaled your legs on the horns.

    You set his plate next to yours. Clint had cut up his pancakes into kitty sized pieces for him. The team really had warmed up to Lokitty over the last few months. Loki was up on the table happily devouring pancakes a moment later.

    After breakfast, you pulled your keys out of thin air. “I’m going to the store. Anyone need anything? Thor, I know you need more poptarts,” you added quickly before he opened his mouth. You summoned a feather quill and notepad to write down the requests before shoving both in your purse. “Are you coming? Or staying here?” you asked Loki. He hopped up on your shoulder in answer.

    You settled Loki in the passenger’s seat of the car you usually drove. Tony didn’t mind sharing his cars, at least the selection of them he offered, as long as they weren’t destroyed. Hell, since he actually seemed to like you, he preferred that you drive his car which had Jarvis built in. So you had claimed one as your own. “You have to behave while I’m driving,” you told the cat firmly. He climbed up on the dashboard so he could look out the window. You gave him a smirk. “We’ll go somewhere fun first,” you told him and set out on your adventure.

    Your first stop was the biggest bookstore in town. Loki’s eyes lit up when he saw where you were. You cradled him in your arms as you walked inside. “Miss, you can’t bring your cat in here,” the employee at the front entrance told you. Loki mewed softly, hurt at being turned away. You held him more securely.

    You turned and gave the employee a too-bright smile. You could completely wreck his day if you felt like it, but he was just doing his job. It took him a minute, but when he saw your shirt and took in your appearance, he seemed to finally realize who you were. You held up your Avenger’s ID anyway. “I’ll vouch for the cat. He wants a new book and he won’t cause any trouble while he’s here picking it out,”

    “O-of course, Sorceress,” he answered quickly and let you inside. You nodded at him, vanished your ID and entered the store. You wandered your way up and down the shelves, pulling books for yourself and added them to the stack of books floating behind you.

    “Mrow?” a paw pointed at a book. You lifted it off the shelf so Loki could see it. A headshake.

    “You can pick more than one, you know, I was just feeding that line to the guy at the door.” Loki perked up and the adventure truly began.

    The amount of books you left the shop with was ridiculous. Beyond ridiculous. It might’ve been cheaper to just actually buy the store. The happiness of the Loki in your arms was totally worth the hours in the shop. He licked your cheek after you’d vanished all of the books so you didn’t have to try to carry them. They reappeared in your room to sort through later. “You’re welcome,” you told Loki and kissed the top of his head, in the perfect spot between his ears.

    “Miss, you can’t bring your cat in here,” the manager at the grocery store told you as you tried to enter the store with Loki in your arms.

    You rolled your eyes and summoned your ID again. “Yes, I can,” you told him firmly and stomped past him into the store while he was spluttering. You set Loki in the child’s seat of the cart and rushed your way through this store. Shopping for groceries wasn’t fun, but you needed to replace the ice cream you’d eaten yesterday and get supplies for the girls’ night that was coming up. And Thor’s poptarts.

    That chore done, you could finally go home.

    Loki helped you put the food away by trying to trip you and generally being in the way. He actually helped you sort the books afterwards. “Was this one mine or yours?” you asked over a few of them. You carried his books to the room that had been set up for him. You weren’t sure if he’d ever actually been in here, but there were multiple bookshelves lining the walls, and you added the new books to his collection.

    You realized that you hadn’t been in here either. Thor had said he set the room up for Loki, but there’d been no reason to come in until today. Loki never spent time here, he was usually with you, Thor, or someone else on the team. The room was fairly unremarkable and standard, bed with a forest green comforter, desk, dresser, door to the closet, and a door to the bathroom. Besides the bookshelves, the only remarkable things were the framed pictures on the desk. Loki had stayed in your room, so you couldn’t help snooping.

    You’d have to ask Thor or Loki about the technology behind the pictures later. You hadn’t thought there were cameras on Asgard, but the pictures were too old for them to be from Earth. The first was a picture of a man with one eye, Odin, a lovely woman, Frigga, and two young boys, maybe around ten years old. Thor had told you about his family, so it wasn’t hard to guess who the people were. One of the boys was Thor, you could tell by the cheerful grin on his face and Mjolnir in his hands. The black-haired boy must’ve been Loki. He’d been an adorable child.

    You realized as you looked over the picture that you didn’t have a clear image of what Loki looked like in human form. Sure, you’d seen him on the news during the alien invasion. But he had always been in costume. They only showed images of him wearing his helmet, so it was hard to get a good idea of what the man looked like.

    You had a very good idea what the man looked like after looking at the other pictures Thor had left on Loki’s desk. One of them was of Thor and Loki in what looked like formal ceremonial clothes, including helmets on both of them. One looked like a candid shot of Thor swinging Mjolnir while Loki was curled up on a window seat in the background, his nose in a book, they looked to be in their teens.

    The last of the old pictures made your heart skip a beat. It was again of Thor and Loki, but in casual tunics. Thor’s arm was around Loki’s shoulders and they were both laughing. You stared at the picture, at the handsome man with long jet black hair and bright green eyes as it clicked that he looked _exactly_ like the man you had caught a glimpse of in the club last night.

    Loki had made an illusion to check up on you. Sneaky god. But still, it warmed your heart that he had cared enough to. You knew it would embarrass him, though, so you didn’t comment on it. Yet.

    Instead, you looked at the last picture on his desk. It was the selfie of you and Lokitty that you’d sent to Thor. You smiled at it and left the room, closing the door carefully behind him.

    “Mrow?” Loki asked from the stacks of books in your room.

    “Sorry, it took a minute to find room on the shelves in your room for the new books,” you told him with a smile and scratched behind his ears when you’d returned to him.

    *

    “You sure you want to stay here tonight? You did get a little squashed last night,” you reminded Loki that night as you were preparing for bed. In answer, he curled himself on ‘his’ pillow and refused to move. You laughed. “Fine, fine. It’s your fault if you get squished again,”

    You woke in the middle of the night and noted that Loki wasn’t curled in your arms like a plushie like usual. You rolled over to see where he was and found...and found... and. found. that there was a human shaped Loki sleeping peacefully on top of the blankets on the other side of your bed. At least, he was mostly human shaped. He still had cat-ears and a tail, and of course the collar that Tony had put on him, bigger now to accommodate a human sized throat. He was adorable, contentedly, soundly asleep, dressed in a casual green tunic and soft black pants, his raven hair falling to the pillow beneath his head.

    You wanted to shout and jump for joy that he’d finally come to trust enough to change back, but you realized that he probably hadn’t purposely changed back, not in the middle of the night, not as dead asleep as he was. Magic had a way of doing things on its own accord.

    You also wanted to cuddle up with him, protect the adorable sleeping Loki.

    You couldn’t do either of those things. Instead, you carefully reached for your phone, took a silent picture of the adorable sleeping mostly-human Loki and summoned an extra blanket to cover him with. Anything more might scare him away, might hurt his trust. You had to be careful with him. He was so bruised, so scared of rejection. It would still take some work to win his trust to get him comfortable enough to stay in human form.

    So you wouldn’t do more tonight than cover him with the blanket and let him sleep. He was safe with you.

    Yet, you couldn’t help placing a soft kiss on top of his head, in the perfect spot between the cat ears on top of his head. You fell back to sleep, thinking of the soft smile he’d had after that friendly, familiar kiss.


	7. Chapter 7

    “Mrrt?” tussle, tussle, the sound of fabric moving on the bed next to you stirred you. “Mrow?” more fighting with fabric. You looked over and saw a small shape squirming under the blanket you had draped over Loki in the middle of the night. “Mrow!” came the indignant cat when you laughed at his adorable attempts to get out from under the now way too big blanket.

    “Sorry! Sorry!” you told him as you sat up and rescued him from the blanket. “You looked cold last night,” you explained when he grumped at you. “I don’t know how you got _all_ the way under the blanket, I surely didn’t put you there,” your added though he’d stopped grumbling since it was obvious he was under the blanket because you had cared about him. “I think Cap is making your other favorite for breakfast,” you told him with a smirk, knowing that would cheer him up the rest of the way. His ears perked up and he nyoomed from the room. You were laughing as you followed him at a much more sedate pace.

    “Lady Y/N, is this not the dance hall we were at on Friday?” Thor asked, gesturing to the news that was playing on a display in the dining room when you had made it downstairs. You took a plate of french toast from Cap and turned your attention to the display that someone had made to take up a large chunk of one of the dining room walls.

    “So far there have been six confirmed cases of this mysterious illness. All six men were at Mirage Nightclub on Friday night. The CDC is recommending that anyone who came into contact with these men or were at Mirage on Friday night be tested for possible contamination. If you were at Mirage on Friday and notice any sudden onset or nausea, fever, confusion, diarrhea or coughing seek medical help immediately. This illness comes on sudden and severely, don’t take any chances-” the news anchor was saying. You stared at the pictures they displayed on the screen. You grabbed the images off of the Jarvis display and threw them up on another wall.

    “Y/N?” Cap asked while you stared.

    “Are you contaminated?” Tony asked, looking like he was going to throw you in quarantine.

    “What do you know?” Clint asked, more curious than anything else.

    “Those are the men Thor rescued me from on Friday,” you told them all. You pointed to one. “That’s Neil, the guy who Pepper set me up with,”

    “Shit! You’re contaminated?!” Tony asked. You glanced at Loki who was too innocently eating his french toast.

    “I... don’t think that will be a problem. It’s hard for me to get sick,” you added quickly before they could ask why you wouldn’t be contaminated. Cap and Tony didn’t look convinced and Thor looked at the too-innocent Loki, who had magic and who you knew had been at the club checking up on you. You had a strong suspicion he had been involved in this mysterious ‘illness’, which was sounding more and more like poisoning the longer the news person spoke.

    “Oh, Thor, I forgot to show you this,” you changed the subject as Tony removed the displays from the wall. You dug in your pocket and pulled out your phone as you got up and went to where Thor was. With your back to Loki, you held a finger to your lips, then showed Thor the picture you had taken in the middle of the night of the mostly human Loki. It was a really adorable picture. You were tempted to print it out and frame it yourself, once Loki actually turned back human. Thor’s eyes lit up.

    “That is excellent news indeed!” he exclaimed, unable to help himself.

    “Mrow?” Loki asked, coming over to see what you were up to. You closed the picture quickly and pulled up one on Facebook of one of your friends and her new boyfriend.

    You showed the picture to Loki. “Sabrina finally found a nice wizard to date,” you told him. He looked disappointed, expecting juicier gossip. “Maybe you can meet her sometime,” you told him and scratched behind his ears.

    *

    A few days later when you were happily curled on your couch with Loki purring in your lap while you read, the alarm started blaring through the tower. You set Loki on his pillow and jumped to your feet, summoning your battle costume at the same time. It looked like a typical Halloween witch’s costume, black hat, black and green knee length dress, black leggings, black arm warmers with green lacing up the sides and at the elbow. The costume only _looked_ like a Halloween costume. It was actually made of some fancy kevlar-like material that SHIELD had come up with, so it was perfectly suitable armor. Coulson had also designed the costume.

    “Jarvis, where’s the emergency?” you asked. He responded with a location that was nearby and shut off the alarm. Flying it was.

    “Mrow?” Loki was concerned. You kissed the top of his head.

    “Stay here. Something’s going on downtown. The whole team is being called in,”

    “Mrow!” he complained, scrambling up to jump into your arms.

    “Not this time, Lokitty. I’m not risking your safety. Stay here, where you’ll be safe.” You told him firmly and before he could try again to jump into your arms, you teleported up to the flight deck to get your broom. It was poor form to teleport into battle unless it was too far to fly effectively. The team got jumpy at suddenly appearing people during battle and tended to attack first and ask questions later. Plus the broom was helpful during battle, so you grabbed your broom and leapt off of the tower, mounting as you fell in a practice movement and speeding toward the nearby battle ground.

    “Kid! We’re fighting enhanced. Some Hydra agents are mutants. One has super speed. We can’t get a lock on him!” Tony shouted over the comms as he saw you fly in.

    “Got it,” you told him and drew your wand, hovering just above the battle. “The floor is lava,” you announced to the team as you saw the blur running across the battle field. Cap jumped up onto a parked car, Clint was already on top of a building shooting arrows, Nat jumped and Tony caught her. Hulk was safe because he was the Hulk and Thor was already flying. You waved your wand, murmuring the spell and the entire parking lot turned into quicksand. “Catch him quick, I can’t hold this long,” you told them firmly, holding your wand in both hands to focus on keeping the parking lot quicksand as you had to keep moving to dodge attacks now that the bad guys had figured out you were here. Cap threw his shield at the stalled speedster and knocked him out quickly. You dropped the quicksand spell and began shooting back at your attackers.

    You jumped up on your broom, riding it like a skateboard and flew faster around the battle shooting off spells, dodging attacks. At one point you noticed a green bolt of magic take out someone who had tried to sneak up behind you. It wasn’t your magic, but you didn’t have time to worry about it in the middle of battle.

    “Y/N, could use an assist!” Clint called. A group of clones had appeared on his rooftop. You flew up to him.

    “Get down!” you called. He dropped and you threw a magic bomb into the air between the clones. It blew and threw all of the clones, who vanished, and the original who you caught and dropped back on the roof with Clint for him to deal with. He tied them up quickly.

    “Can I get a lift back down?” he asked. You sat back down on the broom and slid forward so he could mount behind you.

    “Hold on, this is going to be a bumpy drop!” you told him as you grabbed the bound mutant to haul them with you. You weren’t leaving them up here alone to vanish or create more clones.

    “I hate this part!” he yelled as you dove back for the ground. It was a rough ride, with two passengers, but you managed and even pulled out of the dive with room to spare. You dropped the mutant, paused long enough for Clint to curse as he dismounted and hopped back up to skateboard position.

    “One’s on my tail!” Tony called. Thor blasted the mutant with lightning while you shot a bolt of magic at him.

    Then came the guys with guns. “Y/N, can you do that quicksand spell again?” Cap asked.

    “Yes, but I can’t hold it long,”

    “Just need a minute, Thor!” Cap held up his shield, but the targets were all moving. Ergo... You dropped from the broom to the top of a parked car.

    “Someone cover me!” you called. Clint and Nat were there in a moment, covering you with guns and arrows while you waved your wand to repeat the quicksand spell. It took more concentration than you wanted to admit, but you held the spell while Thor slammed his hammer on Cap’s shield, throwing lightning and a resounding shockwave across the battle. The gunmen were down in and instant.

    SHIELD agents came to collect the Hydra people and mutants. You and the team stumbled tiredly into the nearest restaurant, which happened to be a shawarma place. You all smirked at the type of restaurant. The owners didn’t seem surprised to see you and fed you all way too much food. You made sure to pack a to-go order for Loki.

    Loki mrowed and twined around your legs and overall worried over you all when you finally made it back. “We’re fine, Lokitty,” you told him. “A little dirty and gross, but we’re fine. All of us,” you promised him when he continued worrying over you. “I even brought you something to eat,” you told him and held up the container of food. He still wasn’t placated until he had eaten, you had showered, and you were curled back on the couch with him where he resumed his purring position in your lap.

    You laid on your back on the couch, shifting Loki to your stomach on top of one of the throw blankets. “Hush, you,” you told him when he protested being moved. “That was draining and I want to close my eyes for a little bit,” The rest of the team was slowly passing out on the couches and chairs in the living room too.

    You thought you were dreaming the cool strong arms lifting you from the couch, being cradled to an equally cool chest, the soft voice murmuring for you to relax, that you were safe, how much it meant that you wanted to keep him safe, how stupid you were to go without him, and to go back to sleep, being tucked in bed, soft cold lips pressing against your forehead.

    It was all a dream.

    Except that you woke the next morning in your bed and not on the couch and you couldn’t remember walking here on your own.

    *

    “You could have woken us when you went to bed,” Tony grumbled at breakfast, rubbing a crick in his neck from where he’d slept all night in an uncomfortable position in one of the chairs.

    You grabbed a bowl cereal, all you felt up to on a Monday morning. The rest of the team was looking about as pathetic as Tony, except Loki who was happily eating the last slice of french toast. “Sorry, must’ve sleep-walked upstairs. I seriously don’t remember going to bed,” you told him. “Else I would’ve, I swear,” you told them all. They grumbled and returned to their coffee, but seemed to have forgiven you.

    “Lokitty, I could use your help teaching today. Are you up to it?” you asked him. He looked up at you, obviously surprised that you would want or need his help, but nodded. “Thanks! I just need you to think of a story to tell,” you added.

    *

    “One last warning about full animal transformations before we move on to the next part of this topic. How long is the longest that you should risk staying in animal form?”

    “As short of a time as possible,” one of the students suggested.

    “You’re not wrong, and each witch or wizard has a different reaction to particular lengths. Why should you limit your time in animal form?”

    “The longer you stay in a particular form, the harder it is to turn all the way human again,”

    “Very good. Now that you’ve gotten full animal transformations down, we can work on partial transformations, which are harder. The advantage of a partial transformation is that you get the skills of the animal, say better eyesight and hearing, while keeping useful things like opposable thumbs,” you explained and the class giggled. “It also gives you the ability to communicate with the type of animal you are partially turning into and retain the ability to speak English. So today, we’re going to practice turning partially into cats,” you told them and demonstrated the spell. The students copied and within a couple of minutes the entire class had cat-ears. Which was _adorable_ and you wanted to take a thousand pictures. Instead, you remained professional. It took all of your willpower. “Lokitty, would you tell us a story to make sure they got it right?” you asked him.

    He nodded regally from the pillow on top of your desk, preening when all eyes turned to him. “A long long time ago, before Midgard was new, there was nothing but the chasm, Ginnungagap, bounded on either side by fire from the world of Muspelheim and ice from the world of Niflheim. In the place where fire and ice met, a giant was formed by the name of Ymir. Odin the Allfather killed the giant Ymir and from Ymir’s body grew Yggdrasil, the tree of life,”

    “Norse mythology?” one of the students asked while they all stared enraptured at the talking cat telling them stories of Norse mythology.

    You were enraptured too, but not for the tale itself, but for the voice that you heard under the meows of cat. You could hear the human voice beneath the cat’s and realized you’d heard it before. It took a minute to place it, but you finally realized it was from the man your brain had conjured the other night, the one who had promised you were safe and those men from the club would never bother you again, the one from your dream last night, telling you were you were safe and to go back to sleep.

    Your brain hadn’t conjured an imaginary man after all.

    It had been Loki that night soothing away your nightmares.

    It had been Loki who carried you to bed last night.

    *

    “Mrow?” Lokitty asked when he saw that you came to breakfast a morning a couple weeks later wearing a floor length dress. The material was soft and simple enough for an every day dress when you had worn it years and years ago. You smiled at him.

    “Yes, I’m going out, yes, you can come with me,” you told him automatically and kissed the perfect spot between his ears.

    “That gown is lovely, Lady Y/N,” Thor greeted you that morning, rising and kissing your hand.

    “Thanks, Thor. I’m visiting my mom this morning, and she appreciates when I dress nicely...for once,” you replied, kissing his cheek. You had actually let your hair hang down your back in curls today too, putting some effort...and magic...into making sure it stayed that way.

    “Mrow?” Loki sounded sad, his ears drooping.

    “I said you can come. Mom likes cats,” you reminded him. “Don’t pout,” you scolded. He still looked concerned. “I wouldn’t have said you could come if you’d be unwelcome,” you reminded him. He finally relaxed again.

    You ate a quick breakfast, then asked “Ready?” to Loki. He hopped lightly into your arms in reply. “I have my phone and comm if anyone needs me,” you told Thor, who nodded and wished you well, looking a bit sad. Loki cocked his head at Thor’s sad expression, but you didn’t clarify. Instead you took the elevator upstairs to the flight deck. “We have to fly to get there. You don’t have to come if you don’t want,” you reminded him. You didn’t think flying was his favorite activity. You offered to set him down, but he mrrt-ed in protest. “Fine, fine.” You picked up your broom and glared at it. “I hate riding sidesaddle,” you grumbled at it as you proceeded to do so. “I must love you, mom,” you added under your breath and Loki snorted in cat laughter. “Hush, you,” you grumbled at him.

    You settled him safely in your lap and kept him cradled firmly to you as you flew. It was a much slower flight than usual, in consideration for the fact that you were riding sidesaddle and had a Lokitty to keep safe. “We have to make a stop on the way,” you told him and flew to the florist who had your order. Loki sat patiently on your shoulder while you reviewed the flowers.

    “New familiar?” the old witch behind the counter asked.

    You shook your head. “No, a new familiar hasn’t chosen me yet, this handsome fellow is a wizard who has been keeping me company. He’s shy, though,” you added explaining why he was a cat effectively.

    “About time you found a nice boy to settle down with,” she said fondly.

    You laughed. “It’s nothing like that. He’s just a friend, Helene,” you told her.

    She glared at Loki. “Make your move soon, young man. Our Y/N is a catch and deserves to be happy. You wouldn’t want to see some other wizard sweep her up while you’re waiting for the perfect moment, now would you?” she asked firmly. He glared right back for a moment, then looked away. “Of course you wouldn’t, so don’t make her wait forever for you to pluck up your courage,”

    “Grandmother...” you warned. She wasn’t really your grandmother, but it was a respectful term for witches as old as she was. “Be nice. I told you, he’s just a friend who’s been keeping me company.” You told her firmly as you paid for the bouquet.

    “I have to meddle, it’s my job, dear. Tell your mother I said hello,” she bid you.

    “Of course,” you kissed her cheek and left her shop. “Ignore Helene, she means well, but she’s been pushy as long as I can remember,” you told Loki as you remounted your broom and settled him back in your lap.

    You flew for awhile longer and finally landed on a grassy hill. You set your broom against the tree and took the few steps to the grave beneath it’s branches, Loki balanced on your shoulders and the bouquet in your hands. You knelt in front of the grave in the grass and waved the leaves and debris away with magic. “Hi mom,” you said to the tombstone, laying the bouquet down in front of it. Loki jumped down from your shoulder to stand next to where you were kneeling. “Helene said to tell you hello from her. And this is Loki. I told him you wouldn’t mind if he came to visit too. I know how much you like cats, and I don’t have a new familiar for you to meet yet. He’s a wizard. No, don’t you get any ideas about trying to set him up with me, too. Helene already harassed the poor boy. Don’t worry mom, the Avengers are good company, I’m happy living with them,” you told her, as if she were alive and well to talk to you, as if you had just come home to visit.

    You looked at Loki when you realized he was saying something. A quick bit of concentration and rushing through the spell through years of experience let you hear “I bid you take your place in the halls of Valhalla, where the brave shall live forever. Nor shall we mourn, but rejoice, for those who have died the glorious death,” you smiled and let your spell fade, touched that he would think to say a prayer for your mom. You ran your hand down Loki’s head and he curled himself in your lap when he had finished.

    “Fifty years and it still hurts like the day she left,” you told him softly. “A witch hunter found her, thinking she was a Blood Witch, a witch who uses other’s blood to power their spells, when nothing could be further from the truth. He was executed for his mistake, but no magic can bring the dead back to us. Mom was a healer and an herbalist and she wasn’t even that powerful. She always said my power was a throwback to my grandmother, and that I was the brightest witch of our age. She thought the world of me. I still hope that I’m worthy of it...” Loki licked your cheek. You smiled and kissed the top of his head. “You’re right, she wouldn’t want me to be sad,”

    “Y/N, I know you’re busy this morning, but we could really use your help,” Cap’s voice came over the comm in your ear. You got their location from Jarvis.

    “I’m pretty far out. I’ll have to teleport in,” you told him.

    “We’ll watch for you. I’ll make sure Tony doesn’t blast you out of the air,” Cap replied.

    “Got it. I’ll be there in a minute,” you told him as you summoned your battle costume. You set Loki carefully to the side and leaned down to kiss the tombstone. “Sorry, mom, I’ve got to go, the team needs my help. I promise I’ll visit again soon,” you placed your hand against the stone before you stood. “Lokitty, go home. If they’re calling me in when they know I’m here, then this is bad. Please, go home where it’s safe,” you told him firmly. You didn’t want to have to worry about his safety. In answer, he jumped up on your shoulder. You sighed, but didn’t have time to argue with him. “If you get hurt, I am going to be quite cross with you,” you told him firmly. You grabbed your broom and teleported to the battle.

    The battle was a nightmare. There were civilians everywhere and robots and mutants attacking everything in sight, especially the civilians. You surveyed the scene, not knowing even where to begin until you saw the children in the middle of the chaos. “Hold on,” you told Loki as you mounted your broom and sped over to the kids. You got there just in time to throw a blast of magic at a robot that was intent on attacking them. “Loki, I know you have no capacity to follow orders, but please listen to me for once. Get these children out of here.” You ordered him with enough force in your tone that he would know you meant it. You covered him and the children while they made their escape, while he somehow actually did what you said and got them away from the battle.

    It was a grueling, draining, awful fight. The robots were resistant to magic and seemed to want to focus their attention on you and the mutants seemed better organized than usual. You spent all of your time and magic trying to get the civilians to safety and keep yourself and your teammates alive, including bringing Clint back from the brink of death after he’d been impaled. Healing wasn’t your strong point, but you could do it in a pinch. Saving Clint’s life was a pinch.

    You covered the team when you could, firing off blasts of magic, and other complex complicated draining spells. You teamed up with Thor for awhile, guarding his back while he used Mjolnir against the robots. You got separated when you both had to fly off to help different teammates. Your magic was dwindling at an alarming rate and you were going to be useless to the team soon.

    Toward the end of the battle you were alone until Lokitty came running up to help you. The last robot spotted you and raised it’s arm, shooting some kind of missiles and grenades. There may have been a rocket launcher involved. You were a bit busy trying to not die to pay much attention as all of your teammates yelled over the comms, too far away to help. You ran and scooped up Loki as you did. You knew you were doomed when you saw that you were completely surrounded by things that were going to explode. There was no way to run through them to safety. You teleported, but only made it a few paces, too drained from the battle for such big magic again so soon. Your broom was too far away, it would never get to you in time.

    Shit.

    That left one option.

    One desperate, stupid option.

    “Forgive me, Loki,” you told him softly. The only reason you could still manage this spell was over 400 years of perfecting it, and it was so small, so very small and took so little energy to enact with how many times you had done it. Hell, you always kept the spell primed so all you had to do was mutter the last syllable at any given time. It was so very much easier than teleporting you and Loki away from danger, which was impossible right now. “I’m sorry, but this is all I can do to save even one of us. Don’t hate me for saving you,” you whispered as you summoned the timeout ball around him less than a second before the first explosion went off.


	8. Chapter 8

    The next pieces came in snippets.

    You registered Lokitty’s yowl of protest and indignation even as your arms wrapped firmly around the shield ball to keep it safe.

    You registered that the explosion should have knocked out your hearing even as you were flying backwards through the air. That wasn’t something you were supposed to be focusing on. Thanks stupid brain.

    You felt the thousands shards of shrapnel impale your body through the protective material of your costume and heard your own howl of pain.

    You registered falling hard, landing on your back as the breath was knocked out of you.

    You _definitely_ registered pain and too much blood.

    So much pain.

    The yowl changed to a roar of pain, anger, grief, rage as the shield ball shattered, not from external force, but from inside. The sound was of such anguish that a human throat should _never_ have been able to make it and should never have had a reason to. And yet.

    A slim figure in green and black battle armor appeared, crouching protectively above you, daggers in hand as he shielded you with his body and magic. You saw the green shimmer of magic around you as explosions continued to surround the pair of you. An instant later, magic exploded outward from the figure above you, ruthlessly taking out everyone and everything that wasn’t a civilian or teammate.

    Loki shifted, kneeling beside you, daggers clattering to the ground. “No. Nonono,” he whispered while you fought to keep focus, keep consciousness, tried to make your battered body keep breathing. You couldn’t even take account of the injuries, besides noting that your were filled with shrapnel, you were much too busy trying to remain breathing. Breathing was important, and _way_ too difficult.

    Yet, you managed to raise your hand to his cheek, then one of the cat-ears on his head, panting for air, yet you smiled for him, a reassurance you didn’t feel. “You’re safe, my Lokitty,” you told him softly, relieved, so far lost to the bloodloss and shock that you couldn’t think of anything but that particular point.

    “Why? Why save me?” he demanded frantically, tears in his eyes, as your hand fell back to your stomach. His hands were glowing green as he placed them on you.

    You couldn’t understand. “Why wouldn’t I? I couldn’t save both of us, but... I could save you, and you’re mine to protect,” you gasped, but your breathing was becoming easier the longer he kept his hands on you. “I love you, you silly cat,” you spoke as if he were still the cat, not a mostly-human shaped Asgardian.

    “I am not worthy of that honor, love. Had you not shoved me inside that damn shield I could have, would have... Never mind that now. If you die on me, I will bring you back so I can kill you again myself,” he growled. You knew he was angry at the situation, not really at you. He was terrified for you, and you knew it was impressively hard to terrify a god. You heard the fear behind his words, the outright terror that you were actively dying in his arms, and the fear that his skills wouldn’t be enough.

    Footsteps had finally made it to you. Loki’s shields had vanished when he had taken out the entire battlefield with that magic explosion. “Brother?” Thor asked, kneeling on your other side, careful not to touch you, not to dare interrupt Loki’s magic. The rest of the team was gathered around helplessly.

    “I’ve got her,” Loki replied stiffly, his focus on his magic. “She’s not dying on my watch.” Breathing was easier, though the world kept trying to turn black. The pain had eased, eased, but wasn’t gone. The blood kept pouring.

    “Why are we trusting _him_?” Tony demanded helplessly.

    “You think I don’t care for her?” Loki snapped, glaring at Tony. “And you best trust me because right now my magic is the _only_ thing keeping her alive,” he snarled and focused his attention back on you. Thor said something, more effectively shutting Tony up.

    “Loki. Healing potion. At home,” you managed to focus to enough to get the words out. It was so hard to focus, to do anything but float on the haze of healing magic, to ignore the battering your body had taken.

    Loki gave you a small smile. “Smart little witch,” his voice was soft and warm, gentle and reassuring for you. He was standing a moment later with you in his arms. You whimpered as the increase in pain at being moved broke through Loki’s magic. “I know, love, I know,” he told you gently as you fought to remain conscious.

    “Should you really be moving her?” Cap asked, protesting the moment Loki had started to move.

    “Medical is heading to the tower,” Tony said at the same time.

    “Unless you have a better idea how to get to the tower besides moving her,” Loki snarled.

    “Brother, can you teleport that far?” Thor asked, holding Mjolnir ready to fly if necessary. Loki nodded. “Then go. We will be right behind you,”

    “Hold on, love,” Loki told you as he held you more securely in his arms. You reappeared in the medical room of the tower a moment later. He laid you on the bed. “Where are the potions?” he asked, staring into your eyes with his bright green ones, trying to make you focus enough to help him. You managed to point to one of the medical cabinets.

    “Emergency only,” you rasped. You finally caught a glimpse of the sheer amount of damage to your body and knew that this was definitely the time for that particular potion. There was only one in there labelled ‘emergency only’. You couldn’t even comprehend the damage, or the amount of power it was taking Loki to keep you alive, much less conscious. He rushed back to the bed, holding the small vial. He opened it and sneezed an adorable kitten sneeze.

    “Damn, this is strong,” he commented, a mix of impressed at your potions skills, and desperation for the healing.

    “Shrapnel,” you told him as you were losing the fight against consciousness. If the shrapnel wasn’t removed before the potion, your body would heal over it and that would be just as bad or worse. Loki used an impressive tricky spell to find every ounce of shrapnel in your body and remove it in an instant. Though it hurt as much coming out as it had going in and you howled in pain again.

    You must have blacked out for a minute.

    “Stay with me, love!” Loki ordered your firmly, hooking your mind with his power and forcing you back to consciousness. “You can’t sleep yet,” he told you, a little more gently, but only a little. He was scared. He couldn’t get the potion down your throat unless you were awake enough to swallow it.

    “I can’t-”

    “You can and you will,” he ordered in an icy regal tone.

    “Stay human,” you told him, your stupid brain thinking that was important right now. “Promise?”

    “Only if you stay alive. Now stay awake long enough to drink this,” he lifted you enough that he could tip the potion into your mouth. It took all of your willpower to swallow the awful stuff and you coughed and spluttered and cursed like a drunken sailor on leave as it crashed through your body like lightning and two teams of draft horses as it healed the worst of the damage in a matter of moments. It was labelled ‘for emergencies’ for a reason. It kicked like a shock to the heart and hurt like hell, but it did it’s job well. Loki held you as you shook and spluttered, as the potion did it’s job.

    You caught your breath, not completely healed, but out of the woods. You felt Loki’s magic lift from you, from your mind. You were stable enough without it. “Impressive potion indeed,” he told you, truly impressed.

    “Lokitty, I can’t anymore-” you tried to get the point across, but you were slipping fast and weren’t entirely sure he wasn’t using magic to put you to sleep now that you weren’t in danger.

    “I know, love,” he said softly and kissed your forehead, laying you gently back on the bed. “Sleep now. I will be here when you wake,” he promised softly, relief so apparent in his voice. You heard him mumble something to himself about how he’d wanted you to meet his Asgardian self under less dramatic circumstances. You smiled softly at that and fell asleep, or unconscious, it was hard to be sure which.  


	9. Chapter 9

    “Easy, love, easy. You’ve been unconscious for two days,” Loki’s sweet honeyed voice greeted you as you cracked your eyes open with a groan. You were tucked into your own bed and Loki was sitting in a chair next to it. He was still in human form, though it looked like he hadn’t managed to ditch the cat ears or tail yet. They were still adorable.

    “I forgot how much of a kick that godawful potion packs,” you groaned as you tried to sit up. Loki moved instantly to help you sit against the pillows against the headboard. “Thanks,” you said, suddenly awkward around the handsome man. The cat had been your friend and near constant companion, plus you knew cats well. The man? He was new and a unknown. Or he should have been? It was confusing since you felt like you already knew him so well.

    He smirked and you suddenly felt on familiar terms again. “Well, you were mostly dead all day,” he grinned, the joke lighting his bright green eyes. The tension eased and the awkwardness was gone. He was just as much your friend in human form as he’d been as a cat. He could just communicate easier this way. Also opposable thumbs were useful.

    “Why did I let you watch The Princess Bride. I should’ve known better, snarky cat,” you teased, laughing with him. You enjoyed the companionable laughter for a minute until his expression started to turn sad. “What is it, Lokitty?” you asked him softly. He was suddenly on the bed next to you, his arms wrapped firmly around you. You should have stiffened, should have been uncomfortable in such close proximity to what should have been a strange man, but he just... wasn’t. He was your Lokitty no matter his form.

    “You almost died,” he finally said as your arms went around his slim waist, your head resting in a comfortable spot on his shoulder. His voice was soft, pained, afraid.

    “I didn’t, though. I’m alive and well. Or I will be in a couple of days. I have you to thank for that,” you reminded him. You would have died without him there.

    He hugged you tight. “Don’t you _ever_ scare me like that again,” he told you firmly.

    “I have no intentions. The emergencies only potion tastes like death and kicked like two teams of demented draft horses on speed. Not an experience I’d like to repeat.” That got a chuckle out of him and he relaxed a little. You sighed. “I’m going to have to make another vial,” you whined and he relaxed further at the familiarity. Enough that he could let you go, though he still sat next to you on the bed. “It’s a pain in the ass to make. There’s only one vial kept here at any given time, and it’s only for _that_ exact situation. Healing isn’t my specialty, but I can do it...” it was comfortable talking with him about magic. You’d explained spells and potions to him for months.

    “That potion is if _you_ are too gravely injured,” he finished your thought and you nodded. Anyone else they could get to you in time to heal. That potion was for if _you_ were that bad off.

    “You’re still human-shaped,” you commented innocently, impressed he hadn’t hidden back as a cat, especially as it had been two days.

    He sighed and looked put-upon, pouting when he answered “Yes, and it’s been an awful two days, thanks for that,” he whined, then steeled himself and said with...pride?...in his voice. “But I made a promise to a lady...”

    “Why was it so awful?” you asked, knowing it was honor that had made him keep his word and not change back, no matter how much he’d wanted to.

    He sighed again and looked sad enough that you were the one moving to wrap your arms around him, as if you could hug the broken pieces back together. “Thor has been supportive, of course. He’s annoyingly delighted. But the others... they befriended the cat, forgetting that I’m me... they...they are having trouble accepting me in this form,” he admitted with more vulnerability than you had expected from him. You held him and ran your fingers through his hair, scratching behind his cat ears. He moved back enough to look at you. “You don’t seem affected like they are...” he commented too innocently.

    You gave him a warm smile. “You’re still my Lokitty no matter your form. Besides, I’ve seen this form before...” he gave you a look so you continued and explained how he’d turned back in his sleep one night. “You’re still you, silly ball of mischief. The others will realize it soon. They’re just not as smart as I am,” you teased, just as you would have any other day. He stuck his tongue out at you in reply and you giggled, though it hurt. Gods, you were sore. You moved to get out of the bed. Loki tried to stop you, concerned. “I need a shower, clean pajamas, and food,” you told him firmly. “And to go downstairs and see the others so they know I’m still alive,” you added. He finally relented and helped you stand and get your balance. “Was it really that bad?” you asked him softly.

    You saw the tears in his eyes as he turned and hugged you tightly to him instead of just supporting you while you steadied after two days of unconsciousness. “You nearly died. You were moments from death, love, if that. I thought I was going to lose you before I ever got the chance to really know you,” he held you too tightly, as if he were afraid you would vanish if he didn’t hold you. He held you for a minute before he finally relaxed, accepting that you were there and safe. He kissed the top of your head and you noted that he was taller than you, which wasn’t a surprise, except that you couldn’t reach the perfect spot between his cat ears to kiss from this angle. “Before I plucked up the courage to ask you on that date,” he added softly, but with just a touch of mischief in his voice.


	10. Chapter 10

    You realized when you got out of the shower that while you were feeling much better, you were going to need help rewrapping the bandages. You knew how bad the damage had been when you still needed to cover some of the wounds two days later. Loki hadn’t been kidding.

    So you slipped back out of the bathroom in a robe. “Um, Lokitty, would you mind-?” you started, but he was already sitting on your bed with an impressive-looking first aid kit next to him.

    He rolled his eyes and gestured to the bed. “Who do you think bandaged you last time?” he asked.

    “Um...Nat, or one of the medics?” you replied with a smirk. He huffed and his tail puffed up indignantly, making you laugh as you settled on your bed.

    “While I may not be a strong magical healer, I have spent _plenty_ of time helping Mother in the healing wing. A thousand years of experience have left me _far_ more capable than those mortal medics,” he grumbled while you stripped off your robe so he could deal with the open wound on your side. You flushed that you were sitting on you bed in nothing but your underwear and a bra (which you had summoned a nice pair of when you realized that Loki was probably going to see them). He didn’t comment on your clothes, but got to work with such professionalism that you knew he hadn’t been lying about his experience. After he got the wound on your side, the gash along the back of your right arm, and a few other small injuries dealt with, he knelt beside the bed to get the best angle to rewrap your swollen ankle.

    “I can get that one,” you told him. He looked up at you, rolled his eyes, and got back to doing it himself. Apparently he wanted to make sure it was done correctly, though you were perfectly capable. When he was finished, you summoned pajamas for yourself and then leaned down to kiss the perfect spot between the cat-ears on his head. “Thank you,”

    “It is the least I could do,” he replied formally, as he stood you saw his slight flush at the friendly familiar kiss on the head. Oops. You hadn’t meant to embarrass him.

    “I have to go face the others,” you whined at him as you levered yourself off of the bed. It took more effort than you wanted to admit. “Cap’s going to lecture,” you pouted, jovially trying to ease Loki’s tension. He was automatically at your side steadying you, you shot him a grateful look.

    He chuckled. “Best get it over with then. Maybe that will finally take their attention off of me,” he added with a smirk. You stuck your tongue out at him in reply. He offered you his arm in escort. You smiled at the old fashioned gesture and placed your hand on his arm. He escorted you to the living room and didn’t comment about how you used him as a crutch and leaned too heavily on him, nor did he complain about the slow pace. Instead he told embarrassing stories about the Avengers from his months here as a cat spying on them and making you laugh.

    “Y/N!” your friends called when you and Loki got off the elevator. They all rushed over to greet you and make sure you were ok. You held on tightly to Loki’s arm partially so he didn’t run away, which he clearly wanted to based on how fast his tail was flicking, partially for balance, and partially because the concern of the team was overwhelming. They weren’t used to you being injured. Clint, yes, you? not so much.

    “Come, little witch, let’s get you off of that ankle,” Loki finally said, saving you both.

    “Med room first,” you told him. He inclined his head without argument and escorted you there. You cursed Stark for designing this room for tall people.

    Loki chuckled when he saw you trying to stand on your toes to look through the potion cabinet. You glared over at him. Annoying cat. Suddenly there were hands on your waist, you were briefly in the air, and then standing... on air about a foot above the ground. Loki was smirking mischievously behind you from where he’d lifted you. You turned and kissed the top of his head. “Thanks, silly ball of mischief,” he chuckled and you turned back to the potions in the cabinet. You finally found the ones you needed.

    Loki gave you a look when he saw them. “Should you really take both of those at the same time?” he asked as you stepped down from his standing on air spell.

    You rolled your eyes. “Will someone around here _please_ trust that the witch knows about potions?” you grumbled. “Mortals should not take more than one healing potion at the same time. I’m not a mortal and I made these potions, they’re perfectly safe to take together,” you reminded him.

    He nodded and offered you his arm again. “Very well. I had to express concern. It is rarely a good idea to mix potions,” he reminded you kindly.

    “Professional opinion only of course,” you replied with a smile.

    “Of course,” he smirked. “Not at all because I care for you, little sorceress,” he teased.

    “Of course,” you replied and let him settle you on the couch under a throw blanket with a cup of hot tea, into which you dumped both potions to the immense concern of the group. You laughed at their reaction. “Guys, they’re just healing potions. I did get blown up two days ago,” you reminded them as you sipped on your spiked tea.

    Cap then turned the footage of the battle on the TV. The news had apparently loved the little black cat saving all the children. They had also focused on the explosion that had taken you out. It was a very impressive explosion and the look of sorrow on your face when you had saved Loki when you couldn’t save yourself was heartbreaking. You watched Loki break the shield, kneel protectively over your battered body and destroy the entire battle. There weren’t words to convey the rage in his eyes, the pain and heartbreak in his expression as he fought to keep you alive.

    “What was I supposed to do, Cap?” you asked, trying to keep the exhaustion from your voice. Damn, the potions were kicking in faster than you’d expected. “I couldn’t save us both, my magic was basically tapped, everyone in the team and my broom were too far away. I thought through the options. There were none,” you informed him firmly. He spluttered, but couldn’t argue your logic. You continued sipping on your tea, listening to the team catch you up on the past couple of days.

    “So why does Reindeer Games still have cat-ears?” Tony asked. Loki huffed grumpily and refused to look at anyone, embarrassed and adorably pouting.

    “I told you already that I cannot get rid of them,” he growled, hissing softly. You reached up automatically to scratch behind his ear.

    “Stop that,” you told him, just as automatically. He stuck his tongue out at you.

    “Does she realize he’s not a cat?” Clint asked. Nat slapped the back of his head.

    “Yes, you moron. Let them flirt in peace,” she growled.

    “We’re not flirting!” you and Loki both protested at the same time. Thor boomed his laughter with Clint and Nat.

    “You should be able to make them go away eventually. Unfortunately, it’s a side effect of staying in animal form for so long,” you told Loki while everyone else laughed. Tony and Cap seemed to be listening to you, though. Loki grumbled, but agreed with your assessment of the situation.

    Loki took the teacup from your hands when he saw that it was swaying precariously. “I _did_ suggest that you not mix healing potions,” he told you warmly.

    “A nap is a small price to pay to get rid of the bandages,” you told him. Somehow, through absolutely no fault of your own, you ended up dozing with your head on his chest. Before you fell asleep, he had covered you with the throw blanket on the back of the couch and wrapped an arm around you. You fell asleep listening to his chest rumble in purrs a soft smile on your lips that he hadn’t lost that cat quirk either.


	11. Chapter 11

    You made pancakes the next morning just to see the look of delight on Loki’s face when he came down for breakfast. It was well worth it, despite that you’d had to get up early to make a fancy breakfast on a school day.

    “Morning, Lokitty,” you greeted him warmly when you saw him get off of the elevator. He headed your way when he heard you voice.

    “Good morning,” he replied a little reserved, a little shy. If Stark hadn’t continue to tease him all the time he might have warmed up more quickly in the mornings. But you two were alone right now, and once he realized it, he relaxed. You handed Loki a plate with a huge stack of pancakes when he came into the kitchen. He grinned in delight.

    “Syrup is on the table,” you told him.

    “Thank you, Lady,” he replied still too formal.

    “You’re being awfully formal this morning,” you called him on it. It may not have been the nicest thing to do, but you worried about him. Suddenly being human again after months of being a cat much have been hard. Plus you cared about him. “Is everything ok?” you added as you brought your own plate of pancakes into the dining room. He had chosen the chair across from your usual one.

    “I just did not sleep well,” he lied. You let him keep the lie, though and didn’t pry. You didn’t want to scare him away, but you did have to ask.

    “Do you want to turn back?” you asked him softly.

    He sighed. “Some days more than anything,” he admitted softly, hesitantly. “It was nice to be accepted, but the time for hiding from my problems is over. Though if Stark calls me a ‘puddy-tat’ one more time...” he growled.

    You laughed at that, he glared at you. “Leave Stark to me. If he does it again, I’ll teach him a lesson,” you promised.

    He raised an eyebrow. “You would do that for me?”

    “Of course. You’re my friend and no one hurts my friends. Though I know you are perfectly capable of taking care of yourself. There are sometimes more diplomatic means of solving problems than stabbing people or defenestrating them,” you teased.

    He inclined his head with a hint of a smile. “So I have been told,”

    “Hey Puddy-tat, Sabrina,” Tony teased the second he walked into the room. You were on your feet with your wand pointed directly at Tony’s nose a moment later. Loki’s withdrawl into himself broke your heart. “Kid, it was a joke!” he protested, hands up.

    “Stark, you have got to learn to stop making fun of people all the time,” you snarled at him. The others were coming into the room too. “Loki wouldn’t change back for months because he was afraid of not being accepted by you lot. I’ve told you that the cat-ears are a side effect of staying in that form for so long. You see that the teasing upsets him, how is he _ever_ going to feel accepted if you keep tormenting him?” you demanded. Tony spluttered more apologies. “So all of you are going to learn to be a little more openminded and accepting,” you growled. A complex spell later and everyone in the room had cat-ears and a tail.

    Loki was roaring in laughter as everyone spluttered and their tails puffed up in anger.

    “Undo it!” Tony whined.

    “No,” you replied firmly.

    “I have business meetings today!” He protested, horrified.

    “Don’t piss off the witch next time,” you replied pleasantly. You turned to Loki. “I have to go to the magic school. Mind giving me a lift?” you shouldn’t have done that spell, you were still low from the battle and stupidly fast healing. You could make it, but didn’t want to be drained when you got there.

    He gave you a look. “Are you sure you should be going?” he asked as he stood and vanished your plates.

    “Yes, I’m sure. Do you want to come with me or not?” you asked. He hesitated and a hand automatically went up to one of the cat-ears on his head. You rolled your eyes. “We’re going to magic school, cat-ears are among the _least_ weird things that are seen there. Hell, one of the professors wears them all the time because she’s a weeb and loves them,”

    “What is a weeb?” Loki asked as he used magic to change from his casual tunic and black pants to a perfectly tailored all black suit and the sleeved professor’s cloak over top of it.

    “Someone who likes Japanese cartoons too much,” you explained as you looked over his outfit and physique appreciatively.

    “You are sure they will not mind my presence?” he asked hesitantly.

    “Besides every female swooning at how attractive you are? No, they won’t mind. Again, there are way weirder things that have happened at magic school than a guest lecture from an Asgardian god,”

    He smirked. “You think I am attractive?” he teased.

    You rolled your eyes. “Of course, you silly ball of mischief,” you teased right back as you stepped around him and up onto air “But you’re missing something,” You reached up and began brushing his hair back. You were tempted to never stop because he closed his eyes and started purring when you started, but you had a class to teach. You tied his hair back in a simple queue. “You don’t want to look too much like Professor Snape, though don’t worry, you’re 1000x hotter than him,” you informed him when you were done.

    “Who?”

    “How have I not made you watch Harry Potter yet? We’re fixing that tonight. You’ll love it!” you enthused at him. He smiled at your open enthusiasm and agreed to whatever ‘watching Harry Potter’ entailed, just so you kept smiling.

    “Undo this spell!” Tony whined again. Thor was busy shoving pancakes in his face, ignoring being shapeshifted again. It was just such a common occurrence in his life that he just shrugged at what amounted to mischief from Loki and moved on. Nat was preening over her gorgeous red cat-ears. Clint was leaping up onto tall objects and was excited he could do it more easily. Cap was just...confused.

    “Shall we?” Loki asked, offering you a hand, palm up, completely ignoring Tony.

    “Don’t forget we have to arrive outside of the shields,” you reminded him. He inclined his head and you placed your hand in his, or would have, except that he moved to hold you securely to his side.

    “Physical contact is necessary for teleportation,” he explained with a smirk. Holding his hand would have been plenty and you both knew it.

    “Of course,” you replied and wrapped your arms around his waist, just in case. His smirk widened.

    “UNDO THIS SPELL!” Tony’s roar followed you as you disappeared from the tower.

    You reappeared right outside the shield of the school. “Thanks for the lift,” you told Loki as you slipped out from his arm. You did have to maintain some air of professionalism around the students.

    “Anytime,” Loki replied and offered you his arm in escort instead. You placed your hand lightly on his offered arm and walked with him into the school. Unfortunately, the headmistress was standing just inside the shield.

    “Headmistress,” you greeted her with a nod. “This is-”

    “The cat who has been coming with you for months. About time he turned back,” she replied with a smirk. She’d known who Lokitty was since you brought the cat. You’d had to get permission, but she had said he was welcome to help out as long as he didn’t cause too much trouble. “I know who you are, Trickster,”

    “It is a pleasure to meet you properly, Headmistress,” Loki replied with a formal elegant bow. She nodded in reply and gestured you both inside.

    “Are they staring because of the ears?” Loki asked as you walked with him to class.

    “They probably don’t help, but you’re also Loki of Asgard, and you’re amassing an army of fangirls,” you indicated the female students who were obviously smitten. “Best stay close so they don’t start throwing themselves at you,” you teased.

    “What a horrible fate that would be,” he agreed, but edged closer to you as you walked, betraying that he wasn’t quite teasing.

    “Lokitty, it’ll be fine,” you told him firmly.

    “I know, I just...dislike women throwing themselves at me for my looks alone,” he replied softly.

    “Trust me?” you asked him. He inclined his head. You stood up on your toes to kiss his cheek. He flushed slightly and the girls in the crowd whined and swooned a little, but gave up, for now. “That should keep them at bay for a little while,” you told him. “Sorry for being forward...” you added quickly.

    “Nonsense, darling,” he replied warmly. “Besides, you have been my friend for months, even when I did not deserve it,”

    “Stop that, Lokitty, everyone deserves a friend and everyone deserves a second chance,” you reminded him as you opened the classroom door. Most of the class was already there, so you went straight into teacher mode. “Good morning!” you greeted them brightly, slipping your hand off of Loki’s arm. He swiftly took your hand and bowed over it, kissing your knuckles lightly. So much for going straight into teacher mode as your heart fluttered at the romance.

    “Is that....Lokitty?” one of the kids asked when Loki rose from his bow over your hand.

    “In a manner of speaking,” you told them. The bell rang for class to start, so you began with the obvious. “This is Loki of Asgard, Master Magician, god of mischief, chaos, and lies, Son of Laufey, Adopted Son of Odin, Brother of Thor, and yes, the black cat who has been keeping me company for the last few months. Make sure to be polite to Professor Loki, just like you would any other professor,” you warned them. You didn’t want them asking him about New York or teasing him for being a cat. You also weren’t entirely sure if Loki wanted to go by Odinson or Laufeyson, so for today he could be Professor Loki and correct them later if it was an issue. Loki was perched cat-like on the edge of your desk, waiting patiently for the kids to gather their courage and get the inevitable questions out of the way.

    “Professor Loki, sir?” one brave student finally spoke up. Loki inclined his head to accept the question. “Are the cat-ears a personal choice like Professor Nakayama’s?” he asked.

    Loki turned to you. “The weeb I was telling you about,” you explained quickly. He nodded, accepting your explanation.

    “No, they are not a personal choice,” he finally replied to the student.

    “Then why-?”

    You stepped in before Loki could get annoyed. “You tell me, we covered this the last time I taught,”

    A hand rose and the speaker answered before you could call on her. “He stayed too long in animal form without changing back,” she answered matter-of-factly. You nodded.

    “Yes, Jean,”

    “Is he going to be stuck forever?” someone else asked.

    “No, not forever, it will just take time,”

    “Did you really get blown up?” one of the kids asked you. You sighed, apparently you weren’t going to teach these kids anything today.

    “Yes, I did. I do not recommend it,” you replied sourly. “Cool as explosions look on TV, I did nearly die, and would have had Loki not intervened, so don’t go purposely playing with explosions,”

    “But why work with the Avengers if you’re risking your life?” one of the kids asked.

    “Because the work we do is important. We keep the world safe. It’s not a job for everyone, or very many of us. In short, to quote Thor: Because that’s what heroes do,” you finished with a smile to the impressed-looking kids. “Now, for the actual lesson,” you told them firmly and began to cover the material you were actually supposed to be covering that day.

    When you got to the practical portion of the lesson, you expected Loki to continue sitting and watching the students, instead, he made his way around the room, starting on the opposite side of the class as you and helping the students. He was so patient and kind with them and was surprisingly a great teacher. It wasn’t something you had expected of him. He had a no-nonsense air about him that meant the kids didn’t try anything on him.

    In fact, it seemed like the perfect job for him.

    “Thank you Professor Loki,” some of the students he had helped went out of their way to thank him on their way out of the classroom when the lesson was over. He looked touched by the effort.

    “Good job with them. Magic students can be difficult,” you told him once all of the students were gone. He preened under the praise and you automatically scratched behind one of his cat ears. “That was the only class I had to teach today, but I have some work to do downstairs. You’re welcome to hang out here or in the library unless you want to come help me brew potions,”

    “I can help you,” he replied and opened the classroom door again, bowing you through it. You smiled at his overly romantic gesture and walked with him, your hand on his arm, down to the dungeons where the potion rooms were, chatting about small things, namely laughing at Tony’s ridiculous behavior this morning at suddenly having cat ears.

    You found an empty potions lab and entered, closing and locking the door once Loki was inside with you. You didn’t want to be interrupted. You summoned a couple of potion books to set on one of the tables. You flipped through one until you found the potion you were looking for. “You should be able to handle this one. It doesn’t require any wand work,” you told him and slid the book across the table to him.

    “Why are we working here?” Loki asked, looking over the potion.

    “I need to restock the potions at the tower. The magic school as better cauldrons and supplies. Plus we won’t be interrupted by Tony. They don’t mind if I use their equipment and supplies as long as I leave a couple vials of everything for the school to use. We’ll save the emergencies only potion until the end. I’ll need your help for it,” you added while you flipped through more potion books and marking the ones you intended to make today.

    You stood and stripped off your teacher’s cloak and laid it over the desk. You tied up your hair quickly and removed your outer shirt so you were down to a tank top. You really didn’t want sleeves or your hair getting in the way of potion brewing. You had learned that lesson the hard way before.

    You caught a glimpse of Loki moving and couldn’t help watching as he slipped his cloak off and laid it gently on a table, followed by the suit jacket. He carefully loosened his tie and it was soon on the pile with the rest, before his long fingers carefully undid the cuff links on his shirt and rolled up his sleeves with the practiced movements of a man used to wearing formalwear. He smirked when he caught you watching. Men in formalwear were... well... hot. A man in formalwear who knew how to wear it properly, even more so. Damn Trickster knew it too. He could have used magic, but had purposely chosen not to so you’d watch. Damn Trickster. Much as he claimed he didn’t want women throwing themselves at him for his looks, he seemed pretty pleased that you were appreciating the view. You were also polite enough not to comment on it. You also noted that his eyes caught on your tank top, so it seemed the view was appreciated on both sides.

    You got to work in companionable silence after you’d shown Loki where all of the ingredients were kept. While potions weren’t a huge form of magic on Asgard, Loki was meticulous and careful and didn’t have any troubles with the potions you set him to work on.

    “Thanks for helping. This would have taken me all day otherwise,” you told him as you worked on the last solo potion. You had cauldrons cooling all over the lab.

    “It was no problem at all, darling. It was actually fun,”

    “Well, you’re good at it. We’ll have to get you a wand at some point,” you teased. He rolled his eyes.

    “I have no need of a wand. I am a _Master_ Magician after all,” he grumbled about wands being training tools at best.

    You laughed. “I use one,” you reminded him as you pulled your wand from the bun at the back of your head where you’d shoved it when you weren’t using it.

    “Sometimes you use one,” he corrected. “And Midgardian magic is different,” he added quickly before you could get offended at him questioning your skills.

    “Valid point. They’re not required for all magic on Midgard, but definitely help with focus,”

    “Is it going to hurt the potions if I speed the cooling process along? We are running out of space in here,” Loki asked once your last potion was done. You were surrounded by hot cauldrons and standing nearly on top of Loki since that was all the room you had left. You shook your head.

    “No, it won’t hurt them.”

    He nodded, picked up his cloak, and settled it over your shoulders. It had a warming spell on it, you noted. “It is going to get quite cold in here,” he warned as he made sure you were wrapped firmly in his cloak. He held his hands in front of him and they glowed green as he worked. His skin turned blue as the room’s temperature dropped and dropped. He looked at you nervously while he worked, but besides you shivering in his cloak, you were nothing but accepting. He raised an eyebrow.

    You shrugged. “You’re Jotun,” you replied simply. You knew that already and had studied the Jotuns before when you were a student. You weren’t surprised that Loki had a Jotun form or the cold brought it out.

    “A monster,” Loki said sadly.

    “Hardly. The frost giants are descendants of the first giant Ymir. They are susceptible to heat and have strong ice magic. They generally live in Jotunheim, a land of ice, but they can exist in other realms. Off of their homeworld, they tend to shrink in size to that of, slightly taller than usual humans,” you gestured to Loki as a good example. “They were a war-centric people until the treaty with Odin. Since the treaty, they have been a fairly peaceful nation and are no more monstrous than any other civilization,” you recited. Loki just stared at you.

    “How-?”

    “I had to study a lot of different...species for lack of a better word... of aliens when I was growing up. Thor mentioned that your biological parents were Jotuns. I figured you had a Jotun form too, so I’m not exactly surprised,” you explained. You turned to check the potions. “They’re cool enough to bottle now,” you added, shivering. Loki nodded and ended his magic, his skin turned back to normal almost immediately. You started to slip off his cloak to help bottle potions, but he glared at you.

    “It is still way too cold in here for little witches to be wearing nothing but whatever that lovely garment is that has no sleeves,” he told you firmly. He was right, you could still see your breath, so you carefully rolled the sleeves up above your hands and got to work bottling and trying to be careful not to get anything on his cloak.

    “It’s called a tank top,” you told Loki and stuck your tongue out at him.

    “Ah, a wonderful creation by Midgardian seamstresses,” he teased and you laughed.

    Once all of the potions were bottled and the room was a normal temperature again, you slipped off Loki’s cloak and got to work on the emergency’s only potion. It was the hardest potion you ever made and you needed Loki’s help and a couple of barely legal time spells to get it done. Loki worked so well with you it was amazing. He seemed to always be where you needed him with whatever ingredient or magic ready and he didn’t mind even the boring task of stirring the cauldron while you worked.

    Loki cooled the potion as soon as it was done and you bottled it, leaving two vials behind with the rest of your contributions. You vanished one back to its spot in the medical room at the tower and sent the rest of the vials of all of the potions to your room to sort through later, except for one vial of the emergency potion. You handed it to Loki. “Just in case,” you told him. He nodded and the vial vanished.

    “I hope I shall never have to use it,” he replied. You were standing too close, directly in front of him, looking up into his eyes.

    “Me too, but I’m glad you have it, just in case,” you told him softly. It was reassuring knowing that he had a vial of that particular potion. He tucked a stray lock of hair behind your ear, leaning down just a little, his hand still on the back of your neck.

    “I am too, little witch,” his voice was warm and he quite possibly would have leaned down further for a kiss, had you both not caught the sight of the ton of high schoolers standing outside of the lab staring through the big window with open mouths.

    You jumped away from him as if shocked and opened the lab door, glaring at the students. “If I see anyone in this corridor thirty seconds from now you’re getting detention for the next month!” you yelled into the crowd. They fled. “Students,” you sighed exasperated as you turned back into the room. Loki was fully-dressed again and held your shirt out to you. You slipped it back on, still with the tint of flush from the almost-kiss.

    “Are you ready to return to the tower?” Loki asked when your cloak was back on. You left the vials for the school clearly labelled in one of the cabinets.

    “I need to stop by the sanctum on the way home. Do you mind?” you hated asking him to use power, but you were trying to conserve yours for another day or so.

    “Not at all,” he replied and offered you his arm.

    The second you were outside of the school shields you disappeared and reappeared on the top step of the sanctum. You opened the door without knocking. “Hi Strange!” you announced as you walked in.

    “What is _that_?” Doctor Strange demanded, staring at Loki, who glared, his tail puffing up. He didn’t appreciate being called a ‘that’.

    “A cat?” you tried innocently. Strange just glared.

    “Your cat was an Asgardian?!?” Strange demanded. You giggled and even Loki laughed.

    “Yes, the cat was Loki,” you saw the circle of gold appear under Loki’s feet and glared at Strange. “Stop that. He’s not going to cause any trouble. He’s been here _how_ many times in the last few months. I just need to get a book and I’ll be out of your hair,”

    “And you’ll take your not-a-cat with you, promptly?” Strange demanded, wanting Loki out of his sanctum. Loki could be trouble when he felt like it. Right now he was having fun annoying Strange just by his presence. You nodded. Strange sighed. “Which book?”

    “Thermador’s Treaties on Magical Dynamics,” you replied. A second later the book was in your arms. “Thank you. Come on, Lokitty, let’s go home,” you waved to Strange, took Loki’s arm, and still chuckling, Loki teleported you from the sanctum back to the living room of the tower.

    You were both tired from the long day of brewing potions. So you sat on the couch to relax for a minute.

    Just to relax for a minute.

    Purely to relax for a single minute.

    Just

    A

    Minute

    ...

    


	12. Chapter 12

    When you woke, you were laying between the back of the couch and Loki, your head on his chest, listening to the rumble of his purrs. One of his hands was in your hair, the other arm was wrapped around you. Both of you were still in your teacher’s robes from your just a minute rest.

    Oops.

    “What have we here?” Clint asked as you slowly sat up. He was sitting in a nearby chair, polishing his arrows.

    “Like you don’t fall asleep with Nat in here all the time,” you countered, but softly. Loki was still asleep and he was adorable and you didn’t want to wake him. You brushed a stray lock of hair back from his face absently.

    Clint cleared his throat. “Uh-huh, sure we are. Exactly like this,” he teased.

    “What do you want, Barton?” you asked warily.

    “Remove the ears and I won’t tell Stark, or show him these,” he held up pictures of you and Loki asleep on the couch.

    You sighed. “Fine, but not for me. I don’t want you embarrassing him,” you gestured to Loki. With a wave of your hand Clint’s cat-ears vanished. Clint handed over the pictures.

    “I wasn’t really going to give them to Stark,” he told you kindly.

    “I know,”

    “Besides, I actually like the annoying furball,” Clint’s voice was actually kind. Yes, the term ‘furball’ was silly, but it wasn’t malicious like Tony’s nicknames. “And you more than like him,” he teased. He had left the room a moment later, right as Loki was waking.

    “Apparently we took a nap,” you told him with a smile. He smirked and laughed at your obvious statement.

    “So it appears,” he replied warmly as he worked to sit up. You vanished the pictures before he saw them and got scared. “I-I hope you don’t think that was too forward,” he was suddenly shy.

    You laughed. “Lokitty, you’ve slept in my bed _how_ many times over the last few months?”

    “But this is different!” he protested. You showed him the picture of him asleep in your bed that you had on your phone. He just stared at it, surprised.

    “No, it’s not. I’ve told you, you’re still my Lokitty no matter your form. You’ve been my best friend for months and I see nothing wrong with sharing the same sleeping space, especially for something as innocent as a nap. And you can’t tell me you haven’t seen Nat and Clint napping in here, or just about anyone and your brother,”

    “I don’t know why they bother with that oaf,” Loki grumbled and you laughed again.

    “He’s warm and so...cuddly,” Loki puffed up in anger. “You’re way better,” you told him and scratched behind his cat ear until he calmed again. “What do you think about pizza for dinner?” you changed the subject quickly before he could get upset again. “I really don’t feel like cooking anything else today,”

    “I can agree with that sentiment,” he still looked drained. You stood and kissed the top of his head between his cat ears while you pulled out your phone to call the pizza place. You paced the living room while you placed the order and was promised super fast service because the order was for the Avengers.

    “Are you going to grumble when I go downstairs to meet the pizza guy?” you asked exasperated at the overprotective males.

    “Depends, are you going to grumble when I come along to help you carry the giant stack of pizzas upstairs?” he replied innocently. He was offering a way to come with you and guard while pretending he was coming along to share the work. Smart overprotective male.

    “That sounds like a good idea,” you told him with a smile and went over to the DVD shelf to grab the entire stack of Harry Potter DVDs. “You promised to watch the movies with me,” you told Loki.

    He inclined his head. “I did,” he agreed. You grinned.

    “Now we need to set up the living room properly,” you informed him. “It’s proper Midgardian tradition to be comfortable for movie viewing,”

    “And we cannot do that on the couch?” he asked. You shook your head.

    “Well, of course I must learn the proper customs,” he replied with a smile.

    “Yay! First step is ditching the formalwear,” and you were suddenly in your pajamas, long pajama pants and a t-shirt pajama top. He hesitated because of propriety or something silly, but at your insistent glare finally relented and was in black pajama pants and a green shirt and instant later. You worked together to move the coffee table out of the way, and built a nest of pillows, couch cushions, and blankets. Right as everything was set up to your satisfaction, Jarvis announced the arrival of the pizza man.

    You took Loki’s hand to climb out of your nest and headed for the elevator. “What are you two children up to?” Cap asked at your childlike glee. His words were kind, though and you waved your hand to remove his cat-ears.

    “Movie night,” you told him. “We ordered pizza,”

    “Need help?” he asked. You shook your head.

    “Between the two of us, we can get the pizzas,” you replied with a smile as the elevator doors slid open. Loki was following behind you, bewildered at how he was being dragged along like a favorite stuffed animal. He somehow didn’t seem to mind either. “Not that I care at all, I think they’re adorable, but I know you’re shy. You might want to put an illusion over your ears while we talk to the pizza guy,” you told him softly as the elevator headed down to the lobby.

    “Adorable, huh?” he asked with a smile, but you saw the shimmer of green magic around his cat-ears and tail. He didn’t want the mortals to see them. They had enough issues with him as it was.

    You smiled at the pizza guy. “Hey Dave!” you greeted him. You always had the same couple of deliverymen.

    “Good evening Sorceress and Loki, right?” he replied with a smile as he set the last of the pizzas on the counter in the lobby. Loki was a couple of steps behind you, letting you deal with the pizza guy, though he did watch the interaction with interest as you left a ginormous tip and signed the receipt. You guys all loved this particular pizza place. They always got your order right, sent deliverymen you knew, the deliverymen were polite, and it was always fast and hot when you got it.

    You nodded. “Yes, Loki’s living here now,” you replied a bit warily.

    “I hope you enjoy our pizzas, sir,” Dave replied with a nod to Loki, perfectly polite, apparently willing to give Loki a chance as long as the Avengers were vouching for him. “Have a good evening,” he told you before he left to his other deliveries. You divided the pizzas into a slightly uneven stack, making sure a couple more were on Loki’s than yours. He gave you an approving smile as he picked up his stack.

    “He was polite,” Loki commented pleasantly as you got back in the elevator.

    “That’s part of why we like this pizza place so much. They’re always polite and don’t get star struck,”

    “Even to me,” Loki said softly with a touch of sadness in his voice.

    “Of course. You’re part of the team,” you reminded him with a smile. He was smiling again when the doors opened to the living room. You set the pizzas on the counter in the kitchen and took two of them to your nest of blankets and pillows, as well as drinks, popcorn, brownies, and all sorts of junk food.

    “Surely we cannot eat all of this,” Loki commented when he saw your selection of junk food.

    “You’d be surprised. We have 18 plus hours of movies to watch,”

    “We’re not stopping are we?” he asked, resigning himself to that fact.

    “You’re so smart,” you replied with a grin as you set up the first movie and settled in among the pillows and blankets. He didn’t seem to mind.

    You spent all night watch movies, munching on the snacks. You enjoyed ever single moment of Loki loving Harry Potter. After the first movie you somehow ended up cuddled up together under the blankets to watch the rest of them. No idea how that happened. But it was perfect. It was also easy to tell when he was happy. His purrs were rumbles in his chest.

    *

    You finished the movie marathon just in time for breakfast the next morning. Luckily someone else cooked so you didn’t have to postpone breakfast. You weren’t interrupting the movie marathon just for something as trivial as breakfast. Loki claimed he couldn’t eat another thing after you’d devoured two extra large pizzas, plus like ninety percent of the snack food. He still ate a heaping plate of eggs and bacon. Gods were bottomless pits.

    *

    It was almost two weeks later before all of the cat-ears were gone besides Thor’s, Loki’s of course, and Stark’s. “So, will you remove the cat-ears now?” Thor asked you with a pout. You hadn’t yet, because he really hadn’t seemed to mind. “It was a lovely trick, but I would much appreciate returning to normal.”

    “Leave Stark’s,” Loki told you before you started removing cat-ears. You raised an eyebrow at him, but removed Thor’s cat-ears while Tony yelled. “I have a bargain for him. There is something I require his assistance with. In exchange, I will remove the cat-ears for him,” Loki answered your unspoken question.

    “You need help with something?” you asked, an offer to help him with whatever it was.

    “Nothing to concern yourself about, darling. A simple matter between gentlemen,” Loki reassured you. That was less than reassuring.

    “Loki...” Thor’s tone was a warning.

    “Well then, shall we discuss business?” Stark asked, seeming amused by this game, whatever it was. The two of them headed into another room. You and Thor silently followed them a minute later to find out what this was all about. What on earth could Loki need _Tony’s_ help for?? “So, what do I have to help you with to get rid of these?” Stark demanded, gesturing angrily to the cat-ears.

    Loki hesitated. He hated asking for favors, but this was a bargain, not a favor. Neither man saw you or Thor eavesdropping. “I wish... to... ask Lady Y/N on a proper Midgardian date... but I do not know the customs...” he started a little shyly, hesitantly.

    “Ah, well, this I _can_ help with,” Stark replied and began hashing out details of a perfect date and how to ask without waiting for more of an explanation from Loki. It was actually rather nice of him, with how much he and Loki seemed to hate each other.

    Thor grabbed your arm and dragged you away from where you were eavesdropping as soon as Loki had finished his first sentence. “Loki was correct, this is not something for us to be eavesdropping on,” Thor told you firmly while you tried to silently protest that you should listen longer. Thor glared at you, took a firmer grip on your arm and dragged you bodily away. “Let him do this properly. He is trying so very hard to impress you,” Thor told you firmly.

    It warmed your heart that Loki really was going to such lengths just for you.


	13. Chapter 13

    Even though Tony came back from his meeting with Loki without cat-ears, you didn’t hear any more about the date that day.

    Or the next.

    Or the next.

    Eventually you thought he had lost the courage, or interest.

    Or he was happy with your relationship the way it was.

    It really didn’t bother you. You weren’t in any rush to pursue a romantic relationship. It would happen if it were meant to, in the meantime you would enjoy having a Lokitty as a best friend.

    *

    “Cap, don’t forget I’m unavailable tomorrow,” you reminded the team at dinner on October 30th.

    “Big Halloween plans?” Stark jumped in, dying for material for a Halloween related witch joke.

    “Yes, but I’ll be back in plenty of time for your party,” you told him. You hesitated, but knew what your mother would want, so you added. “Actually, if you guys want to come, you’re welcome too. Mom would love to meet you all,”

    Loki reached over and took your hand, squeezing it reassuringly. You hadn’t advertised that your mom wasn’t alive. Loki knew obviously. Nat knew because she knew everything and Thor knew...somehow... “I will come with you,” Loki told you warmly. You gave him a smile in return. The rest of the team jumped in to agree to come meet your mom too. Of course she’d want to meet her daughter’s housemates.

    “Thanks, Lokitty. Mind helping me cook? We need to bring food with us tomorrow,”

    He nodded. “Of course, darling. Do you need me to call Helene?”

    “Do you mind? We need flowers for the others to bring as well,” you asked as you stood and kissed the perfect spot on the top of his head between his cat ears before you headed to the kitchen to get started on the cooking for tomorrow.

    “Not at all. I’ll join you in a minute,” Loki told you kindly. You saw him hold a green ball of magic in front of him through which he contacted Helene. The others watched the use of magic and this side of Loki with interest. They still weren’t used to seeing him as a courteous caring gentleman.

    You spent the evening cooking and packing the picnic baskets. The others jumped in to help, understanding it was important, even if they didn’t know or dare ask why.

    *

    The next morning you all piled into one of the giant SUVs. You were even wearing a dress from days long past for the occasion. It was one of your mom’s favorites on you. Loki and Thor both told you that you looked beautiful. Stark made some sarcastic comment about how you _could_ wear a dress like a normal girl. Nat kicked him for you. He only avoided getting defenestrated because it was Halloween.

    The first stop of the morning was to Helene’s flower shop. She was excited to meet the whole team and told you about how wonderful of housemates you had. Loki stepped up to her and greeted her with a kiss on each cheek. “Grandmother Helene,” he greeted her warmly.

    “Finally decided to turn back, did you?” she asked him with a wide grin.

    “Yes, Grandmother,” he replied a little sheepishly and obediently bent back down again when she reached up to touch his cat ears. “It was time to properly befriend Lady Y/N.” The team was openly staring at Loki submitting to a little old lady. Well, the entire team except Thor, who just seemed happy to see Loki like this.

    “You got stuck, didn’t you dearie?” Helene asked Loki fondly while she touched his ears.

    “It’s only a mild inconvenience. Especially when Lady Y/N does not seem to mind and I get to spend more quality time with her, despite the ears,”

    “They’ll go away soon. You still better make your move soon, young man. Don’t keep the poor girl waiting,” Helene scolded him lightly.

    “Of course, Grandmother,” he replied warmly and gave you a little smirk.

    “Good boy,” Helene told him and patted his cheek affectionately.

    “Grandmother, please stop meddling in my love life. I don’t have one. Loki is just a friend,” you reminded her again, firmly. Maybe she’d learn sometime. Instead, she just gave you a warm smile and handed the flower order to Cap and Thor to carry. There were a lot of flowers this time.

    “Say hello to your mother for me, Y/N,” Helene bid you.

    “I will,” you replied and kissed her cheek before you left with the others.

    “How-? What-?” Tony started, just staring at Loki who offered you his arm to escort you back to the SUV.

    “Loki met Helene the last time I went to visit mom. She’s a witch and I’ve known her forever. I hope you remembered from last time not to take her meddling in my love life seriously,” you added for Loki’s benefit.

    “Of course. She means well and cares for you, love,” Loki replied warmly.

    “Who was that in there and what did he do with Loki?” Clint asked, just as surprised as the others.

    You just stared at them confused. “They think I am rude and mean to strangers,” Loki informed you with a chuckle. “They are mistaken of course,”

    “They should know better. You’re one for mischief, sure, but you’re also a prince,” you agreed. He opened your car door for you and helped you climb into the SUV. By helped you meant cheated and lifted you into the seat so you didn’t have to climb in a dress. You stuck your tongue out at him, but appreciated the gesture and the courtesy.

    It was a short drive from Helene’s to your mom’s grave. “Park here,” you told Nat when you got close. “We’ll have to walk the rest of the way.” She did as you told her and you headed toward the tree laden with flowers and picnic supplies. Before you got there, you stopped and waved your hand, creating an opening in the warding spell protecting her grave You could just pass through, but they needed and invite, so you waved your friends through. Loki waited with you until the others were through, watching your back while you held the warding open for the others. You let the spell reengage and took his hand to walk through with him.

    The others were waiting for you right inside the shielding. You stepped past them. Thor clapped your shoulder as you passed and you gave him a bright smile. You took your usual bouquet of flowers from Cap and headed toward your mom’s grave. “Hi, mom,” you greeted her brightly as you knelt in front of the grave and laid your flowers on her tombstone. You heard or felt the surprise from Cap, Clint, Bruce, and Tony. “I brought my friends this year. I thought you’d like to meet them. Though Lokitty has already said hi,” you told her. “She’ll be here in a minute,” you told the as you stood again, unable to hide the excitement from your voice.

    “What do you mean?” Cap asked.

    “It’s Halloween. The day of the dead,” you explained. “It’ll make sense in a minute, I swear. It’s hard to explain,” you added. However, what your friends did next touched your heart. They divvied out the flowers among themselves and each stepped forward in turn to place them on your mom’s grave with a kind word or prayer. What was the most impressive was Thor and Loki both kneeling at the same time to recite the same prayer Loki had said last time he was here. You were smiling as you watched them, committing the words to memory as they spoke in unison. They both stood and hugged you, sorrow in Thor’s eyes, but Loki seemed to understand. “Guys, don’t be sad, it’s Halloween,” you reminded them brightly. “Now will you help me get this picnic set up?” you asked. Cap and Tony spread out the blanket and you got all of the plates and food spread out.

    You turned back to the tombstone when there was a shimmer of light. “Mom!” you called and ran into her arms, while the others stared in shock when she materialized.

    “Hello, darling,” she replied warmly. You held her for a long moment, savoring the one day a year when you could see and touch her again. “Are you going to introduce me to your friends?” she finally asked.

    “Oh, right,” you replied sheepishly and walked over to the others and the picnic. You gave the introductions, then added. “Guys, it’s Halloween, the one day a year that the spirits of witches and wizards who have passed can visit the world of the living,” you explained. They finally seemed to accept that and relaxed, greeting your mom warmly, open and inviting as per usual. Loki had approached your mom while you were explaining and bowed over her hand to kiss it in greeting. Gentleman as always.

    She gave him a look. “You have a question for me, don’t you, young man?” she teased him. He flushed and his tail started flicking adorably.

    “Why does everyone keep calling you young today?” Clint teased too.

    “Helene is over 4,000 years old. I won’t tell you how old mom was when she died, because that would be rude, but it was older than Loki by enough that she can call him ‘young man’ and mean it,” you explained to him. He just stared, not expecting that answer.

    “Propriety would indicate that I should ask...” Loki hedged while everyone was dishing out the meal, including the plate for your mom. You had picked all her favorites to make.

    “My daughter is old enough to decide for herself. It is a point in your favor, however, that you would wish for my approval,” your mom finally answered. She reached up and touched Loki’s cheek kindly. “Just make sure you treat her well,”

    “Mom, whatever you two are talking about, knock it off and get over here and join us!” you called to them. Loki offered her an arm in escort and walked her over to the picnic blanket.

    You had a wonderful day catching up with your mom. The team told stories and showed her the friendship and fun that was your life since you moved in with them. You saw how happy it made her that this was your adopted family and how much they loved you.

    You both stood when the sun started to set. “It’s time, darling,” she told you sadly. You nodded and walked away with the others back to her tombstone.

    “I’ll miss you,” you told her as you walked, your arm around her waist, hers around your shoulders. “Are you ok where you are all year?” you asked her the same question every year. She wouldn’t tell you what lay beyond the veil, all she would say was:

    “Of course I am. After all, to the well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure,” you smiled at the reminder and hugged her.

    “Say yes when he asks, darling,” your mom told you warmly. “I wish nothing more than for you to be happy,”

    You held her in a tight hug until twilight hit properly and she was gone. New arms were around you a moment later, cool as they pulled you into a comforting hug. You looked up at Loki and offered him a small smile despite the tears in your eyes. “She’s happy where she is, love, and she is happy that you are enjoying your life,” he told you softly.

    “I know. And I love getting to see her every year. It’s still hard to say goodbye, though,” you told him just as softly. He kissed the top of your head and you smiled, laying your head back on his chest and letting him hold you for a minute.

    “Enough moping! We have a party to get to!” Tony announced, diffusing the situation.

    You were laughing when you all waved goodbye to your mom’s tombstone and headed back to the SUV with the team to head home and get ready for Tony’s Halloween bash. It was how she’d want you to leave and how she’d want you to live.


	14. Chapter 14

    “What are we wearing to this... party?” Loki asked on the elevator ride back up to your rooms. He sounded nervous. You took his hand and brushed your thumb over the back of it, reassuring.

    “We’re wearing our battle costumes,” you told him gently. “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to. It’ll be loud and obnoxious and probably full of Tony being drunk and people acting stupid,” you added, equally gently. It really wasn’t going to be an event that Loki would like. Hell, it wasn’t going to be an event that _you_ would like, but you were obligated to go. Tony had made you promise.

    “You will be there,” Loki replied carefully.

    “Because I have to go. It’s _supposed_ to be fun. Tony insists it will be. I don’t believe him, but I have to show up at least for a little while,” you told him, whining. You just wanted to sit on a couch with a purring Lokitty and a book.

    “Then I will join you and we will protect each other,” Loki’s voice was warm, obviously caring about you and your well-being, but you could hear the nerves in his voice. He didn’t want to spend the evening with the mortals, with Tony, or his loud drunken friends.

    “Lokitty, just stay here. You’ll be safer and happier and won’t have mortals stepping on your tail. I know how you feel about them not giving you a chance,” you insisted. You didn’t want to see him suffering through this party.

    “Nonsense. It would be dishonorable to let you face this battle alone,” he said in such a lofty formal tone that you couldn’t help laughing. He seemed pleased that you had relaxed. You kissed his cheek when you were outside of your room. It had become a friendly, caring, gesture over the last few weeks when you couldn’t reach the spot between the cat-ears on top of his head.

    “Wait for me and we can go down to the ballroom together,” you suggested.

    “That sounds like an excellent idea,” he agreed quickly. He lifted your hand and bowed over it as he kissed your knuckles. You smiled at the old-fashioned gesture and ducked into your room to get ready for the party. You used magic to summon your battle armor. It was a pain to put on normally. Coulson had given you a new set when yours was destroyed in the explosion. It now had gold trim with the green and black. You had a feeling he was trying to ship you and Loki too. But it looked cool and was functional, so you didn’t complain. You did your hair and put on makeup since this was a party and made sure your wand was wrapped securely around your wrist pretending to be a bracelet. You didn’t want to be without it among all these people, most of whom you wouldn’t know.

    You carefully settled your witch’s hat on your head, securing it in place with magic. You took a glance in the mirror before you left your room. You looked tiny, innocent, and adorable. It was the exact look Coulson had been going for in your costume, a cute little witch who helped out the team and saved the world. There were negative connotations about witches being evil, so he’d designed your costume to look adorable, despite that it was mostly black. You were also careful to keep up a cheerful, polite, kind demeanor at all times. It had gotten you the reputation of being America’s sweetheart and the public loved you.

    You stepped out into the hall and saw Loki waiting for you in his full battle armor, including his golden horned helmet. You saw the illusions hiding his cat-ears and tail. You only saw the illusions because you were a witch. They were very well done. You also noted that he chose his current armor setup and not the set from New York. Wise choice. “Hope you weren’t waiting too long,” you greeted him with a smile. He was leaning against the wall with a book in one hand. He vanished the book and looked over at you as he stood.

    “Not at all,” he replied with a smile.

    “Good job on the illusions,” you told him by way of complimenting his appearance. He would be uncomfortable if you told him how hot his battle armor was. Instead, you complimented his skills, which he would appreciate more.

    “You look lovely as ever, little sorceress,” he replied warmly, accepting your praise for what it was. He hesitated a moment, but finally said: “I wanted to ask before we head to Tony’s party: would you allow me the honor of escorting you on a proper date this Saturday evening?”

    “It would be my honor,” you replied automatically, just as formally as his question had been. You’d been waiting for him to ask after all. “Where are we going?” you asked curiously.

    “It is a surprise,” you gave him a look. The last date you had gone on had not turned out well. Neither had the ones before that. You weren’t sure you trusted surprises, even from him. “Trust me, love. It will be a pleasant surprise. At the worst, we will have a fun evening out and remain friends.” You relaxed at that. You could accept the surprise fun evening if there was no pressure that you’d lose your best friend if the dating thing somehow didn’t work out.

    “Alright, but you’re going to have to give me _some_ clue or I’ll have no idea what to wear,” you informed him with a teasing smile. You saw his grin and the glimmer of mischief and fun in his eyes.

    He offered you his arm. “Shall we?” you hesitated before you took it. He looked surprised and a little hurt that you didn’t take his arm automatically like you usually did.

    “Not that I mind,” you told him quickly “but if we go down to that party arm-in-arm every single person there is going to assume that we’re dating and it will end up all over the news and tabloids. I don’t mind,” you repeated firmly. “I just want to make sure that _you’re_ ok with it,” you knew how shy he was even around the team, though they were all starting to warm up. Out among normal people who would probably recognize and hate him for trying to take over the world? It was already amazing enough that the magic school accepted him with little to no question. He was a cat and a god, of course he’d tried to take over the world. Everything had worked out in the end, so the witches and wizards moved on. It’s what they did. Muggles were harder to convince.

    “You wish to make sure I feel safe?” Loki mused with a warm smile. He looked truly touched that you were thinking of his feelings. “I promised to face this challenge with you,” he reminded you and offered you his arm again. You smiled and placed your hand on his offered arm. “This might be fun after all,” he commented as you walked to the elevator to head to the ballroom. He would enjoy the press having a field day.

    You tightened your grip on his arm when you stepped off of the elevator, glad for his presence. The ballroom was _packed_. Everyone was in costume, though the rule was that only the team were allowed to dress as Avengers. At least your friends would be easy to find. You didn’t know how or why Tony had invited so many people to this stupid thing. “It’s alright, love,” Loki’s voice was kind, but you saw his tail bristle under the illusion spell. He wasn’t comfortable in this crowd either. You steeled your spine and courage and stepped into the room proper.

    “Let’s go get drinks,” you told Loki and gestured to the bar. “That’s where Stark’s likely to be and we can’t escape until he sees us here,” you added. Loki inclined his head to indicate that he’d heard you over the crowd and he led you to the bar. The crowd seemed to part for him and you couldn’t tell if it was magic or his presence that was getting them to move.

    “You two finally decided to show up!” Tony exclaimed when you reached the bar and handed you each a drink.

    “You threatened me if I didn’t,” you glared at him.

    “You need to have fun sometimes too, kid,” he teased, “even if it’s forcefully. Now have fun,” he told you and shooed you toward the dance floor. You weren’t going near the dance floor until you had to, or until Tony played something you could actually dance to instead of this...club music. Instead, you found the science bros corner. It was a quiet corner where Bruce and Doctor Strange were currently hanging out.

    “Nice illusions, not-a-cat,” Strange greeted Loki when you two made your way over. Loki bristled, not liking being teased by Strange who didn’t really trust or like him.

    “Stop that,” you told Loki firmly and kissed his cheek to calm him. “Strange teases, it’s what he does. You can’t stab him for it,” you added quickly before Loki could do just that.

    “The press is loving you,” Strange said sarcastically, commenting on the pictures that were being taken of you being escorted by Loki and of course that kiss on the cheek. You shrugged.

    “No one cares what the press thinks,” you replied more bravely than you felt.

    “I think you’ll care when they put out the story that America’s sweetheart is being courted by a reformed super villain,” Strange countered. You shrugged again.

    “They’ll learn what he’s really like, eventually. Until then, who better to prove that he’s not evil than ‘America’s Sweetheart’?” you replied. Loki raised your hand to his lips to kiss, grateful that you were standing up for him.

    You chatted with Strange and Bruce until your drinks were gone. You vanished the empty glasses back to the bar, then went to go find the others. You couldn’t escape from the crowd until the entire team had seen you here. Thor was overjoyed to see Loki here and clapped him on the shoulder jovially, while Loki growled at the treatment. Nat and Clint were on the dance floor. Cap was hanging out with some WWII friends and nodded to you when he saw you.

    You grinned when one of the line dances started and dragged Loki out onto the dance floor by the hand. He followed, letting you drag him like a well-loved stuffed animal, or your best friend, which he was. “I do not know this dance,” he protested feebly, interested by all the people dancing in sync. So you taught him the electric slide.

    A slow song started and he looked equally confused at this dance. You wrapped your arms around his neck, his arms went automatically around your waist. “I know, it’s not like a proper ball,” you empathized with him mournfully. “There’s no finesse to these... slow dances. Not like the waltz. You just kind of...hold your partner and sway,”

    “That can be enjoyable as well,” Loki’s voice was a purr as he held you close to him. His lips touched your forehead. “Quite enjoyable, though you are correct. This is nothing like a proper ball. There is no finesse, no style, no... emotion in the dance itself.” You both ignored the press taking pictures of the pair of you.

    Thor grabbed both of your arms later in the evening, once most of the crowd was dying out and dragged you over to the bar where the others on the team were gathering. “Thor!” you both protested.

    “C’mon, you two, it’s tradition!” Tony exclaimed. “Thor, you brought it, right?” he asked. Thor let you and Loki go now that you were at the bar with the others. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a giant flask.

    “What tradition is this?” you asked Nat.

    “Stark wants to get shitfaced off of Asgardian booze. So he makes us all drink it, forgetting that it takes a lot more of the stuff to get those of us who aren’t normal humans shitfaced,” she explained quickly as she took her shot from Thor as he passed them out. You shrugged and took one too. You weren’t a normal human either.

    “Be careful with this,” Loki warned as he accepted one as well.

    “It has been aged 1000 years,” Thor reminded the team. “And not for mortals,” he glared at Tony, who downed his shot, regardless of the warning.

    “How many shots does it take to get you drunk, anyway?” Tony demanded as he watched you down the shot.

    You shrugged. “More than a human, less than Thor,” you answered. You hadn’t tested your limits in a _long_ time. “That stuff is good,” you added to Thor as he refilled your glass.

    “Careful,” Thor reminded you again. You nodded and sipped on the second round. Tony was not nearly so careful and was down for the count almost instantly. Clint and Bruce were soon on the losers pile with Tony. You stopped after the second, not wanting to end up drunk. A taste of the stuff was one thing, getting drunk was just silly.

    It was getting late and you’d been social much longer than intended, so you turned to Loki, who was watching the antics with amusement. “Lokitty, mind walking me back upstairs?” you asked. He raised an eyebrow, but set his glass on the bar. “Guests are only supposed to have access to this floor of the tower, but mistakes have been made... I’d rather not find out alone that someone snuck into my room,” you explained, though tried to make it sound like it wasn’t a huge concern.

    One of the guys always walked you back to your room after these kind of events, usually Thor, since he was the most responsible as the most sober. Nat and Clint always slept in the same bed after these things, claiming it was for protection from nightmares. No one dared dispute their story or tease them. Bruce was safe because of the Hulk, an Iron Man suit guarded Tony, and Thor and Cap were...Thor and Cap. Thor wouldn’t leave you alone last time until you’d created satisfactory shields around your room. There had been one incident since you’d lived here of a drunk girl in a Black Widow costume making it to the living room and passing out there. No one was taking chances with anyone’s safety on the team.

    “Of course, darling,” Loki replied warmly. He offered you his arm and nodded a goodbye to the others. He wouldn’t be coming back to the party once he escaped.

    “Brother... ” Thor’s tone was a warning. He wanted to say more, to make the suggestion that your relationship was too new and too unofficial to handle without breaking.

    “Lady Y/N is perfectly safe in my care,” Loki replied grumpily, growling that Thor questioned his honor. That wasn’t what was going on, but was the obvious conclusion.

    “I am not questioning your ability to keep her safe. I merely wish to remind you that it may be necessary to do so, which is uncommon in the safety of the tower,” Thor replied calmly, not offended at Loki’s grumpy reply. “People have slipped past our security into the tower before. Take this responsibility seriously, despite the fact that Lady Y/N asked you lightly,”

    “I’m not helpless, Thor,” you grumped at him.

    “No, you’re not,” Thor agreed mildly. “But that doesn’t mean you should be stupid,” he replied. You nodded in agreement with that. It was a perfectly logical assessment. You took Loki’s arm more firmly and let him lead you to the elevator.

    “Are you alright?” Loki asked you softly, noticing your grip tighten.

    You nodded. “Just tired of all of the people,” you admitted softly. The others knew you were an introvert, but only Bruce seemed to really understand how exhausting it was.

    “I completely understand,” he agreed, just as shy and introverted as you were. Once the elevator doors had slid shut you both used magic to ditch the costumes, back to comfortable pajamas and normalcy, and Loki dropped the illusions on his cat-ears and tail. You reached up automatically to scratch behind one of his ears. He gave you a warm smile in return. “Are they others taking a buddy with them to look for intruders?” he asked you curiously.

    “Nat and Clint are sharing a bed tonight. Tony and one of his suits will be sharing a bed, or hanging out in the lab with Bruce. Hulk will keep Bruce safe. Cap is Cap; I’m not sure he even sleeps. Your brother is well... Thor. He can take care of himself. If not, his roars will wake the entire tower,” you explained on the elevator ride.

    “The oaf is quite loud,” Loki agreed. “Is he exaggerating the threat?” he asked softly, his tone demanding a truthful answer.

    You didn’t want to worry Loki, but you knew better than to lie to him either. “I don’t think it’s as bad as he’s making it sound, but there have been intruders before, including one since I’ve lived here,” you told him. He nodded, accepting your words, but you saw the worry behind his eyes.

    He wrapped an arm around your shoulders as you walked down the hall to your room, an overprotective gesture, but you didn’t mind, especially when you had asked him to walk you safely home. You opened the door and stepped aside so he could go in and check for intruders. You knew how this worked and didn’t deny that his honor demanded that he verify you would be safe. Loki peeked his head out of the room a minute later. “It’s safe,” he told you. You nodded and followed him into the room. He hesitated and you saw what he wanted to ask, and saw him try to figure out how without upsetting you or sounding like he was pushing for more than just sleep and protection.

    “Lokitty, just stay,” you told him gently and began pulling back the covers on your bed. He just stared, shocked at the suggestion. “You want to make sure I’m safe, especially now that you know it’s a legitimate concern and not just something your idiot brother made up. I’d feel better knowing you’re safe too,”

    “You would not think it... forward?” he finally asked, though it sounded like that wasn’t the word he was looking for. It got the concept of his hesitation to you well enough.

    “Lokitty,” you sighed in exasperation. “You’re my best friend and I trust you,” you saw a heartbreaking expression in his eyes that _anyone_ would say that they trusted him. “Besides, you’ve slept here plenty of times before,” most of those times he’d been in cat form, but still, it had only been _most_ of those times. “I’m inviting you to stay for sleep and safety. There’s plenty of bed for both of us. So, yes, you’re invited to stay. But if you climb on my face or do any other annoying cat thing to wake me in the middle of the night, you’re never getting another invitation,” you warned him lightly, using the exact words you’d warned his cat-form with.

    He chuckled. “Does that mean you wish for me to change forms?” he asked just as lightly, willing to do that if it would make you feel safer about his presence.

    “And risk you refusing to turn back again? No. I was just teasing so you’d relax and cool that adorable blush. Especially when there’s no need for a blush over a simple sharing of a sleeping space,” you teased. He laughed and seemed to finally relax. “Now I’m exhausted after having to deal with so many stupid people. Are you staying, or do I need to come with you to make sure your room is clear of intruders too?” you asked and covered a yawn with your hand.

    He kissed your forehead. “Take the side of the bed furthest from the door,” he told you firmly. You couldn’t help smiling at his automatic jump to taking the more vulnerable position. “I’ll join you in a minute,” he added warmly. You nodded and climbed into the bed while he went to the door to lock it. You both made the shields around the room, twining your power together. _Nothing_ was getting through those shields. Loki joined you a minute later, sitting against the pillows with a book. The lights in the room went out, but he held a little ball of light in one hand. “Will this disturb you?” he asked, perfectly willing to set the book aside so he didn’t keep you from sleeping.

    “Not at all,” you replied, curling yourself comfortably under the covers. “Goodnight, Lokitty,” you bid him warmly and closed your eyes to finally relax after dealing with so many people. You needed to recharge your introvert batteries.

    “Sleep well, darling” he bid you softly. His voice was warm honey as he read aloud from the book of poetry he held. You fell asleep listening to his sweet honeyed voice and the lovely cadence of his words and accent, feeling perfectly safe in his company, and knowing that if he was here reading to you that he was safe and happy too.


	15. Chapter 15

    When you woke, you expected to find Loki sleeping propped against the pillows having fallen asleep while reading, or maybe with his back to you, curled adorably. Instead, you had apparently rolled over in your sleep, he was at your back, curled protectively around you, purring softly as he slept, a very happy protective big spoon. Your head was pillowed on his arm, his other arm around your waist. Even his tail was curled over you, draped across your legs. You didn’t want to wake him, he was so peaceful and adorable, and you felt so safe and happy with him guarding your back.

    But it was morning and there were things to do. Especially when you alarm started blaring, ruining the moment. Loki jumped awake as you reached over him to shut off the alarm. “Sorry, Lokitty,” you told him gently. He sat up, flushed when he’d realized that you’d slept _cuddling_ , how...scandelous. You laughed at his awkward, shy reaction and tilted his head toward you so you could kiss the perfect spot between his cat ears.

    “Thank you for keeping me company last night,” you told him warmly. “I feel much better knowing that we were both safe,” he still seemed embarrassed, so you darted forward and licked his nose. He spluttered a protest and rubbed his wet nose dry indignantly, while you laughed. “Relax, Loki. There’s no shame in cuddling or spending a night together in sleep. I know you’re shy, but you should know by now I’m not going to be offended, besides I thought Asgardians were more....open.... in their affections,” you pryed, woneirng why he kept getting so shy around you.

    “We are,” he finally admitted softly after a long pause. He seemed to steel himself before he continued. “But Midgardians are not...and Midgardians of the era you were raised...”

    You laughed again, finally realizing what he was getting at. “Lokitty, yes, I’m 500 years old, but I’m also a witch. We adapt to the world and the culture around us, it’s how we survive. We’re also a lot more open in our affections than the humans, in case you hadn’t noticed, silly trickster,” you teased and he finally relaxed and gave you a smile. “I wouldn’t have invited you to stay if I minded. I promise I’ll tell you if I’m uncomfortable with something. Though I appreciate your concern,” you added quickly.

    “I do not wish for you to be uncomfortable,” he finally said softly. It was nice that he cared about your feelings and would take the time to try to find out how your were raised. He wasn’t just trying to push himself on you like so many other males had.

    You kissed his forehead before you climbed out of the bed. “You’re one of the good ones, Lokitty” you told him warmly. You saw his shocked expression that _anyone_ would say that and you smiled more brightly. You waved your hand, dissipating your half of the shielding around the room. “I’ll see you at breakfast,” you told Loki as you were gathering clean clothes to change into. He was getting up to leave to get ready for the day too. “Thanks again for last night.” He’d hadn’t had to walk you home, or stay to make sure you were safe.

    He kissed your forehead. “Any time, darling.” With a warm smile, he left your room. You showered and dressed quickly. Loki wasn’t waiting outside for you, so you went down to find breakfast.

    Instead you found Thor roaring as he lifted Loki by the throat to hold him against the nearest wall. The noise that came out of Loki’s throat could only be described as a yowl of protest as he fought against Thor’s grip on his throat. “WHERE WERE YOU? I _TRUSTED_ YOU!” Thor was roaring. Loki was fighting for air almost instantly, Thor was crushing his windpipe.

    “Thor!” you yelled, running over to diffuse the situation. “What are you doing? Put him down!” you demanded. Loki had summoned a blade, which Thor ripped out of his hand and threw across the room. It lodged itself in a wall. You tried to shove Thor backward to get him to put Loki down before he lost all ability to breathe. But Thor was a wall of muscle and didn’t move because a tiny girl pushed him. He grabbed you and tried to push you behind him to safety.

    “You were _supposed_ to be guarding Lady Y/N from your room. I stressed how important it was. Someone snuck in last night. You’re _damn_ lucky we caught him before he got upstairs to the Lady you _claim_ to care for. Where were you?” Thor demanded again, roaring.

    You drew your wand and held it to Thor’s throat. “Thor, drop him! He was with me last night. All night. He wasn’t in _his_ room because he was in mine!” you told Thor firmly. Loki made a choking sound. Shit. You didn’t want to blast Thor, but he wasn’t leaving you much of a choice.

    “You swear it?” Thor demanded.

    “Yes, not put him down!” your growled, sparks flaring at the end of your wand. Thor’s grip loosened and Loki slid down the wall, back to his feet, coughing. “Thor, you ass. You could’ve just _asked_ ,” you snarled as you turned to Loki to check out the damage. He obligingly, silently, tiled his head back so you could see the purple bruise on his throat.

    “I did. He would not say where he was or how you had been guarded,” Thor replied, more calmly now that he had the story.

    You placed your hand on the bruise to begin the healing. Loki winced. “Sorry, love, sorry,” you told him softly. “But you are a stubborn god,” you scolded him gently. You raised your voice again to address Thor. “Of course he didn’t tell you, oaf,” you grumped at Thor. “It would be unbelievably dishonorable for him to advertise that he had spent the night in the bed of a lady he is not related to, married to, or officially courting,” you reminded Thor hotly. You saw Loki glaring over you at his brother.

    “My apologies. I should have known-” Thor should have known that Loki wouldn’t shirk his duty or besmirch your honor or reputation. Not that you felt sharing a sleeping space with your best friend did either of those things, but you were touched that he had cared.

    “You should have,” you agreed with Thor. To Loki you added “Lokitty, please remember that no one around his gives a shit about propriety, especially if the question is whether you guarded someone, not if you had sex with them,” you reminded the stubborn, too honorable, trickster as you finished on his throat. “But thank you for trying to protect me from your idiot brother,” you kissed his cheek.

    Before he could do anything more than hug you to him and kiss the top of your head, a call came over the PA. “Suit up!” called Cap’s voice. “There’s a ton of monsters attacking downtown.

    You grabbed Thor’s arm, Loki’s were still around you, and teleported the three of you up to the flight deck. “Loki, we have to fly in. If we teleport, the team will blast us first and ask questions later,” you reminded him while you all summoned your battle armor. You and Thor both held out your hands in an identical manner. Mjolnir flew to his hand and your broom flew to yours.

    “She’s right, brother,” Thor told Loki and offered Loki his hand.

    “I am _not_ flying with you,” Loki told him coldly with a glare. “You forgot you had a passenger last time and dropped me. From quite a considerable height. I do not wish to repeat that experience,”

    “You can’t ride pillion. Remind me after this and I’ll teach you to ride a broom later. If you don’t want the ride from Thor, change forms and you can ride with me,” you told Loki quickly. There wasn’t time for arguments about how to get to the battle, but he couldn’t ride pillion without knowing how, plus you would lose a ton of speed, and he didn’t know how to ride a broom on his own. He nodded once and with a flash of green light was back in cat form. He leapt lightly into your arms and you caught him automatically. “I’ll meet you there,” you told Thor. He nodded, spun Mjolnir a couple of times, and was off. “This flight is not going to be fun for you. I swear I _will not_ let you fall. Trust me, please, trust me,” you told Loki. He nodded once in agreement.

    You wrapped your left arm firmly around the cat, holding him tightly to your chest and ran for the edge of the platform, your broom held ready in the other. You dove spectacularly off of the roof to the terror of the cat clutched to your chest. You laid out flat against your broom as you dove headfirst for the ground. You were a skilled flier and pulled out of the dive at the last moment, impressing yourself with the ability to pull of a flawless Wronski Feint with only one hand, speeding toward the battle inches above traffic, nearly laying on your broom for speed, but not loosening your grip on Loki, who was being held remarkably like a quaffle. “Sorry, Lokes,” oops, somehow his name got shortened. He could yell at you later. “We had to get back down to the ground quickly. Your idiot brother throws off the air pressure when he flies and it’s too dangerous to fly further up while he’s playing with lightning and flying. I told you I wouldn’t let you fall,” you soothed as you sped toward the battle.

    You slowed slightly when you reached the battle. Iron Man and Hawkeye were trying to keep the battle contained. There were huge four-legged vaguely dog-shaped beasts and rock monster attacking the team and civilians. You loosened your grip on Loki and he leapt from your arms, returning to human-ish form before he hit the ground.

    “Be careful,” you called to Loki. He smiled at your concern as you hopped up on your broom to ride it like a skateboard, which usually gave you better versatility in battle.

    “Always, darling,” he replied warmly as he summoned a dagger, reviewing the battle for himself to see where he could help. He bid you to be careful as well.

    “Loki! Good, you’re here! The rock monsters are weak against ice!” Cap’s voice called in your ear. Loki blasted a nearby rock monster with a burst of ice and it shattered to pieces. “Y/N, Nat’s down,”

    “Where?” you called. You saw Nat’s distinctive hair and flew over to her. You stepped off your broom to kneel beside her and heal her. You stepped back up on your broom when that was done and flew around the battle, helping the others and blasting off bolts of magic at the monsters.

    You rounded up the last of the civilians and got them away from the battle with Clint and Cap covering you. One of the hellhounds grabbed your broom when you flew too low over it, blasting at it with magic. You toppled off of the broom, skidding along the asphalt until you could roll back to your feet. One of Loki’s clones was there in an instant, defending you and blasting the hellhound with a bolt of magic.

    “Are you alright?” he asked as you took down the hellhound together.

    “I’m fine, just a scrape,” you replied as your broom flew back to you. “Thanks for the assist!” The clone vanished when you were safely in the air again.

    “Y/N, slow these things down. We can’t get a clear shot on these hellhounds,” the four-legged beasts were fast, but they were grounded. You surveyed the battleground, noting everyone’s positions, most were already scrambling up onto something so they wouldn’t be on the ground. You saw Loki’s clones, and finally caught sight of the real one. You could always tell the difference since you could see his magic around the clones. You sped over to him, dropping down to sit on the broom again as you flew.

    “Loki!” You called as you reached a hand down to him. He reached his up automatically, and you pulled him up behind you on the broom. He jumped, helping you with the practiced movement of someone who was experienced in Legolas-jumping onto a horse in the middle of battle. He could ride pillion for this, you were just hovering, just above the battle. “Floor is lava, guys, hurry,” you called over the comm as you waved your wand and concentrated on the quicksand spell. Loki watched your back, blasting flying rocks with his magic while the team used their skills to take down the hellhounds from their perches.

    “Why did you come for me?” Loki asked while you focused on holding the spell, your arms shaking as you fought the wand to keep the spell going.

    “I figured you didn’t know the command ‘the floor is lava’,” you explained simply. “I didn’t want you caught up in the spell,” your voice was strained. “Guys, hurry,” you told them firmly. “I can’t hold this much longer,”

    “Hold on, kid. There’s a lot of these stupid hellhounds,” Tony called. You were just glad you didn’t have to watch your back while you hovered. Loki protected you both while you worked.

    “Keep it going!” Cap called too.

    “That’s not helping,” you snarled, cursing as you tightened your grip on the wand.

    “Hold on, love,” Loki told you softly. You felt him gather power and throw it at the trapped hellhounds. Between everyone, the hellhounds dropped a moment later. You were panting when you ended the quicksand spell.

    “I hate that spell, but it’s just so useful in battle,” you complained as you caught your breath, resettled your power, focused again on something besides that damn complicated spell.

    “Can you do ice magic too?” Loki asked, formulating a plan. You nodded, seeing where he was going with this.

    “I can. And don’t worry, I have power left,” you added before he could ask, or be concerned. It was a legitimate concern after the quicksand spell.

    “Land and we will get rid of these rock creatures together,” Loki told you.

    “Arrows are useless on those things!” Clint complained loudly. Cap was bashing one with his shield ineffectively. Nat’s bullets were equally useless. They just laughed when Thor tried lightning.

    You landed and dismounted. Loki took your free hand in one of his cold hand, power twining between you the moment your hands touched. You smiled and slapped your wand back on your wrist, out of the way. You had to do magic Loki’s way for you to work together. It was no trouble to do so. You held your free hand out in front of you and Loki mirrored your movement so your palms were facing each other, both of you working without words on the same spell. It was an impressive feat of working together. A blue ball of ice magic began to form between your palms.

    “Loki!” You heard Thor’s call, but you both ignored him. The team surrounded you as you worked, the ball of magic growing and growing between you. Once it had grown to the right size, you threw it up into the air. You both threw a bolt of magic at it and it exploded, sending shards of ice into the rock monsters, taking them out. You shivered as the remnants of the ball of ice made it start snowing over you and Loki.

    You turned to Loki and saw that he was blue again, his Jotun form had taken over while he was using so much ice magic. “Poor Lokitty,” you teased him gently, your voice warm and your smile gentle. “Can’t play in the cold without turning blue,”

    He laughed at your gentle teasing, your acceptance of him no matter what he looked like, and his form shimmered back to normal, adorable cat-ears and all. “That is why I usually do not use ice during battles, but today...”

    “It was the only thing that worked on those rock things. Good job,” Cap told him warmly. Loki looked like he didn’t understand the praise. Poor baby.

    He wrapped an arm around your shoulders, yours was around his waist, both of you pretending that you were less drained than you really were. No one commented. Nat and Clint were in basically the same pose and Bruce was hiding behind a car to put on pants. Everyone was scraped and bruised and Clint somehow had a head wound. You waved your wand in his direction to seal the wound so it would stop bleeding. He nodded his thanks.

    “Stark, where is the location for the revelries?” Thor asked as he joined your gathering of superheros. He clapped you and Loki both on the shoulder and congratulated your impressive ice spell.

    SHIELD was coming to clean up the mess. Your job here was done.

    “Jarvis?” Tony asked the AI who kept a list of restaurants for post-mission dining.

    “There is a gyro restaurant-” Jarvis replied and rattled off more details.

    “Sounds like a winner,” Nat was already pulling out her phone to get the location from Jarvis. You stood up on your own and grabbed your broom, throwing it over your shoulder. Cap secured his shield to his back and Thor attached Mjolnir to his belt. All of the weapons were stashed as you mobilized to find food.

    “Whoever taught you that flying includes jumping headfirst off of a building should be punished. Severely,” Loki told you as the group trudged wearily to the gyro restaurant. Your hand was somehow in his. You couldn’t remember that happening, nor were you inclined to change it...

    You laughed. “I told you I wasn’t going to drop you. I grew up riding brooms since I was a toddler and played sports on broomstick. I daresay that makes me a fair flyer. You probably grew up riding horses the same way,” you reminded him. He “I saw that move when you leapt onto my broom during battle. I used to ride horses when I was a kid too and used that maneuver more than once. I’ll teach you how to fly on your own...” he shuddered and shook his head.

    “I don’t think I’m cut out for flying,” he protested quickly. You laughed at his reaction.

    “What are you going to do the next time we have to rush into battle?”

    “Pray that my lady flies in a more reasonable manner,” he replied dryly. “It is still preferable to riding with Thor...”

    “Oi, furball, if you don’t want the press seeing your ears, you may want to hide them,” Clint’s voice was teasing, but his concern was real. He liked Loki and knew as well as any of you that Loki was shy, especially around the public.

    “They would have already seen,” Tony added dryly, which the entire team glared at him for. “You know the press loves watching us fight things.” Loki blanched and stiffened.

    “It’s ok,” you told him gently, though you glared at Tony. “Their opinions don’t matter,” you reminded him kindly. He nodded and relaxed a little, raising your hand to his lips to kiss the back of it, wordlessly thanking you for your reassurance. He didn’t bother hiding his cat-ears or tail, since the team didn’t mind them.

    You all trudged into the gyro shop. Tony ordered food for the table while you all claimed seats around a few tables you shoved together. No one complained that you were rearranging the furniture, or covered in battle grime and blood. They didn’t complain when all of your weapons ended up on a pile on a spare table, including Loki’s golden helmet and your broomstick. The owners took a picture of the iconic arrangement to hang up on their wall. You all signed it when the picture was printed out. You were all polite, if tired, and the press had swarmed, so the restaurant would get good press and a huge increase in sales. Also Tony way overpaid for the meal. It was tradition after all.

    You sat around the table, eating gyros, discussing the battle. Nat and Clint had somehow appropriate half of the other’s chairs, Bruce devoured his weight in gyros, Thor did too. You and Loki ate, half dozed on the other. Cap and Tony were talking across the ends of the table. Loki looked so joyed to be included and accepted. He looked even moreso to receive praise from the team.


	16. Chapter 16

    “Thor, you said someone broke into the tower last night?” you asked while the team all sat around the coffee table in your pajamas drinking hot chocolate. It was the perfect post-battle activity. It didn’t matter that it was early afternoon.

    “Yes, nothing to worry about. Captain Rogers apprehended him,” Thor told you.

    “What’d he want?” you asked.

    Cap shrugged. “He was just a drunk who got confused. Don’t know how he drunkenly tricked Jarvis into letting him up here.” Guests last night at the party were only supposed to be able to access the floor with the ballroom.

    Loki’s head whipped over to Cap and he glared, hissing softly, his tail puffed up in anger. “You’re lying,” he accused, his voice a snarl. Cap looked taken aback.

    “Lokitty,” you said softly. Cap didn’t lie. He was Cap. It was like Thor lying. It just didn’t happen. You touched Loki’s hand, calming, reassuring. He pulled his hand from your grip and wrapped his arm around your shoulders, pulling you possessively, defensively, to him.

    “I am the god of lies,” he reminded Cap and the entire team since they were all here. They’d gotten too used to your Lokitty, the happy, if reserved. They forgot about his possessive side, his quick temper, especially if he thought something he cared about was in danger. Thor had also warned the team when you weren’t supposed to be able to hear him and when Loki was upstairs picking out new books from the library, that his brother’s temper would be sharper until you had accepted or rejected his courtship. A lot was hinging on this date.

    Cap sighed heavily. “We don’t know what he was after, really. He’s still being questioned. All he has said so far is that he wanted to see Y/N,” he finally admitted. “We thought it best not to worry you over an isolated incident, especially with the culprit detained,” Loki’s arm tightened around you.

    “Loki, I’m fine,” you reassured him. He didn’t calm. You tilted your head up to kiss his cheek. “Calm down, Lokitty, I’m fine, perfectly safe,” he kissed the top of your head and finally seemed to calm some when he had convinced himself that you were safe in his arms. “That’s why you were so concerned this morning,” you told Thor, who nodded. “You could have said something,”

    “We caught the intruder and your room was so heavily shielded that I knew you were safe. I just did not realize that my brother was safe with you,” Thor admitted, sheepishly. He should have checked before assuming that Loki had shirked.

    “Be careful out of the tower, just in case. Stark is working on Jarvis’ programming again and there’s no parties here for awhile, so the tower should be perfectly safe,” Cap told you. You caught the word ‘should’ and knew that Loki would have too. Just what you needed, your friends being overprotective.

    You laughed. “How on Earth were you going to tell me to be careful without telling me the intruder had asked for me?” you demanded, still laughing at Cap’s absurdity.

    “You usually take Loki with you everywhere anyway, so I didn’t think it would be an issue,” Cap admitted sheepishly. You rolled your eyes. You were perfectly capable of taking care of yourself. “Y/N, promise you’ll be careful, at least not stupid until we’re sure this was an isolated incident,”

    You rolled your eyes again and opened your mouth with some witty reply on the tip of your tongue when a cold hand clamped over your mouth. “She will be careful,” Loki said on your behalf. You made a muffled protest behind Loki’s hand. You weren’t a helpless child in need of protecting. “Hush, you,” he scolded, but kissed the top of your head to show he was teasing. You’d told him that quite a lot since you’d known him. You huffed. “I know you’re quite the formidable witch, that doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t be careful,” he told you as he finally removed his hand from your mouth.

    “Fine, I’ll be careful,” you finally appeased them. You doubted you had a choice in that matter, or would be alone when you left the tower for awhile. That’s ok. Spending time with Loki was always fun.

    *

    “Lokitty, you really need to tell me where we’re going tonight,” you reminded the silly Trickster at breakfast Saturday morning. He just looked smug and proud of himself.

    “It’s a surprise,” he told you pleasantly, with absolutely no shame at the secret.

    “How am I supposed to know what to wear if you don’t tell me where we’re going?” you asked him quite reasonably.

    His grin only got wider. “I will set your outfit for the evening out for you,” he told you just as pleasantly. He had this planned out already.

    “Annoying ball of mischief,” you teased him, grumpily.

    He laughed. “Relax, love, you will enjoy this evening, I promise,” he told you warmly.

    “Do you still want to go see the new Avengers movie this morning?” you asked, changing the subject before curiosity over the evening’s plans killed you. Loki was interested when he heard that they were making a movie about the Avengers. He also really wanted to see a movie on the big screen. He couldn’t imagine such a giant TV. You promised to go with him when the movie came out.

    “I do,” he replied with child-like glee. So you pulled up the movie times and decided which theater you were going to. You summoned your purse which also contained your car keys. “Thank heavens we’re not flying today,” Loki commented, which made you laugh.

    “Come on, silly Lokitty,” you bid him. Cap saw you enter the living room with your purse.

    “You’re going out?” he asked, concerned, not seeing Loki at first, since he was magicing the dishes away.

    “Loki and I are going out to a movie,” you told Cap overly patiently. Cap relaxed that you weren’t going out alone. You were about to make a snide comment when Loki caught up with you.

    “The Avengers movie?” Clint asked. You nodded. “Let us know how it is!” he called. You agreed and took Loki’s hand automatically as you walked to the elevator. He smiled that the gesture _was_ automatic. You drove to the theater. Loki hadn’t learned how yet and didn’t seem inclined to. He enjoyed watching out the window instead.

    “There’s going to be a lot of annoying mortals there. You can’t stab them, even if they step on your tail,” you reminded Loki when you found a parking spot at the theater.

    “That hardly seems fair,” he whined.

    “Lokitty,” you warned with exasperation in your voice. You knew he was teasing, but still.

    He huffed and sighed over dramatically. “Fine, I will not stab the annoying mortals, as long as they do not endanger us,” he amended quickly.

    “Fair enough,” you agreed and reached for the handle to the car door. You smiled when Loki was suddenly there opening the door for you and offering you his hand to help you out of the car. You took his hand, though you didn’t need the help. He offered you his arm and you placed your hand in it, letting him escort you into the building. He didn’t bother hiding his ears or tail. Everyone had seen them already, and no one could mess with him and complain that they didn’t know who he was. There weren’t many people with real cat-ears running around New York. You ordered and paid for the tickets, popcorn, and drinks while Loki watched and absorbed the interaction. You could tell he was memorizing it for next time. It’s what he did. Thor would just stumble his way through Midgardian interactions and not care if he messed up. He was so loveable that people forgave him for misstepping. Loki preferred to watch someone else so he would know how to do it properly before he tried. You gave the tickets to the ticket lady, who stared in awe at you and Loki.

    “How do we choose seats?” Loki asked, staring at how many people this theater sat.

    “There’s an art to it,” you told him as you climbed the steps. “The trick is to pick seats high enough up that you don’t have to crane your neck to look at the screen, and in the middle of the row,” you explained as you found a good pair of seats and settled there. You also showed him that the divider between your two seats raised out of your way, if he wanted it to, of course. He promptly shoved it up out of the way.

    “That is a _giant_ TV,” he commented in awe as he stared open-mouthed at the advertisements on the screen. You smiled at how adorable he was. You tried to be more formal in public. He was so shy and reserved around the mortals, but his arm was around you by the time the movie had even begun. You looked up at him to warn him that the mortals might get the wrong impression, but he kissed your forehead. He knew what he was doing, so you curled yourself more comfortably in his arms. He purred when he knew you were securely safe in his arms. Overprotective god.

    The movie was the retelling of the events in New York. “That actor does not look like me,” Loki complained. Often.

    It was a good movie, and accurate. They used security tapes from Jarvis and other sources for source material. The actors were fantastic, and the team had made sure the studio told the story accurately or they wouldn’t sign off on it. They were also threatened with bodily harm by Thor if they portrayed Loki in a bad light, so they were very clear on the mind-control thing.

    *

    You sat in the livingroom with the team when you got home after a nice lunch out and gushed over the movie with the team. Stark made a suggestion that you all go see it in uniform, since it was good. He badgered everyone else into agreeing.

    You looked up when Loki got up from the couch a short time later. He smiled at your concern. You’d been afraid he was upset by the movie. He was portrayed as a very reluctant villain, but a villain nonetheless. “I just have a couple of errands to take care of. Don’t fret,” he told you warmly.

    “Do you need a ride? You should have said something while we were out!” you told him, moving to get to your feet, automatically jumping to help him.

    He chuckled and kissed your forehead. “Thank you for your concern, darling, but, no, I do not need a ride. The errands pertain to our evening, so you are not invited to help, little sorceress,” he teased and bopped your nose with a long finger. You stuck your tongue out at him in reply. He vanished in a shimmer of green light, still laughing

    *

    Loki didn’t return all afternoon. You finally got a text from him around 4:30. You’d taught him how to use his phone shortly after he’d turned human again. -Your outfit for the evening is waiting on your bed. I will pick you up at 6-

    You bounced in excitement as you made your way upstairs to finally get a clue as to what you’d be doing this evening. Thor was grinning. Jerkface knew what Loki was up to, you realized. You glared at him, but it only lasted an instant as the elevator dinged. You stepped in and saw the grins on the entire team’s faces. They _all_ knew what Loki was planning. Jerks, all of them...

    When you got to your room, you found the most gorgeous floor-length gown you had ever laid eyes on. You knew it wasn’t yours. You didn’t own anything that perfect or beautiful. You were glad Loki had given you time to get ready, too. You had time to shower, use a spell on your hair, and do your makeup before carefully putting on the dress. It fit like it was made just for you. You had a feeling it was. There was a pair of surprisingly comfortable heels to go with the dress, a shawl that matched the dress perfectly, and a beautiful gold Celtic knot necklace.

    You double-checked your appearance one last time moments before there was a polite knock on your door, exactly at 6pm. You couldn’t help smiling at how prompt he was and opened the door. Loki was waiting on the other side dressed in a perfectly tailored suit, a bouquet of your favorite flowers in his hand. He had also used so many illusions on his ears and tail that even you could see through them. He looked properly Asgardian, and extremely handsome, this evening. You stepped back to let him into your room. “You look ravishing this evening, darling,” he greeted you warmly and bowed over your hand to kiss your knuckles.

    “Thank you,” you accepted the compliment. “You look wonderful as well,” you couldn’t tell him that he was damn sexy in formal wear, and handsome wasn’t strong enough. He smiled and offered you the flowers. “Thank you,” you said again, cooing over the familiar purple flowers. “How did you know?” These flowers were rare here, you hadn’t seen any in years.

    “Helene sends her greetings,” he told you by way of reply. “And that it was about time I asked you on a proper date,” he added with a smirk.

    You sighed. “Grandmother Helene never changes.” Before you could create one, a vase materialized around the flowers. You smiled at Loki and his thoughtfulness at set the flowers on your nightstand.

    “Shall we?” he asked, offering you his arm. You placed your hand on his offered arm and let him escort you. He bowed you from the room and pulled your door closed behind him.

    “Do I get to know where we’re going yet?” you asked as you walked with him to the elevator.

    “Not yet,” he told you warmly. “Soon,” he promised. “We do have one stop to make before we can leave though. I apologize,” he added as the elevator opened on the main floor where the team was gathered in the living room still. There were cat-calls and pictures taken and Thor had to warn his brother to make sure you had a good time that evening. You escaped with Loki as soon as you could.

    “They mean well...” you tried to defend them.

    “It’s still annoying, but Thor insisted that he be allowed to see us off,” Loki rolled his eyes. Loki sighed heavily when you exited the tower. He was looking at two ravens perched on the wall just outside of the tower. “Hello, Hugin, Munin, did Mother have Odin put you up to this?” he asked the ravens.

    “You know them?” you asked him.

    “These are Hugin and Munin, Odin’s ravens. They act as spies for him. Apparently, they have decided I need to be checked up on, on the night I wish to take my lady out on our first official date. I suspect Mother’s interference,” he explained to you. He looked put-upon, but you could see that he was pleased that Frigga cared. He turned his attention back to the birds. “Kindly tell Mother that I appreciate her concern and am doing well, that my lady is lovely and kind, a powerful sorceress worthy of every ounce of joy I can possibly give her and more, and that I send my love,” the ravens cawed and flew off. “Mother means well...” he told you softly, embarrassed that he’d had to stop and have a conversation with birds because of his strange family. You’d seen just as strange over the years.

    “Of course she does. She loves you and wants to see you happy,” you told him warmly. He kissed your hand again, pleased at your understanding. You continued on your way and Loki led you to the street where a limo was waiting. Of course he’d gotten a limo. What else would he have done? Silly god. The driver opened the door as soon as the two of you got close to the limo. Loki helped you into the limo and went around to enter on the other side so you didn’t have to slid across the seat. A lady didn’t slide after all. Or a princess, which is how he was treating you.

    Loki told you stories of the ravens as the limo drove you to your location. You watched out the window as he talked and were in awe at the fancy limo and the expense Loki went to for this evening. You weren’t terribly surprised that you ended up at a restaurant. You shouldn’t have been surprsied at the elegant famous restaurant you had ended up at, and yet, you still hadn’t been expecting Loki to bring you to the fanciest restaurant he...or Stark... could find. He offered you a hand to help you out of the limo. You accepted it gratefully, you weren’t used to climbing out of a limo at all, much less in a floor length gown and heels. Loki escorted you into the restaurant. You were led immediately to your table and seated by the staff, who even placed your napkins in your laps for you. Seriously, the place was that fancy.

    The meal was delicious, Loki’s company was wonderful as always, and the meal was delicious. Seriously, you didn’t know food could taste that good.

    It was a wonderful date and didn’t _feel_ like a first date, since you’d been friends with Loki for months. It felt just like any other outing, but somehow...more. You couldn’t quite explain how, but it was a happy more, so you accepted it with joy.

    You were surprised when the limo didn’t go back to the tower after dinner. You raised an eyebrow at Loki. “Surely, you didn’t think dinner was the only plan I had for the evening,” he teased lightly.

    “Then what else _do_ you have planned?” you asked.

    “We’re nearly there,” he promised instead of answering. You didn’t recognize the building when the limo stopped in front of it. You waited for Loki to come around so he could help you from the limo, though. He helped you to your feet, then took your hand in formal escort. You smiled at his antics and let him escort you into the building.

    You paused when you entered the huge ballroom and just stared at the old-fashioned formal ball. You hadn’t been to a proper ball in _years_. “How-?” you asked, shocked as Loki removed your shawl and vanished it instead of bothering with the coat check.

    “Stark grudgingly helped me set it up,” Loki admitted. “It took us awhile to get everything set up, which is why it too so long for me to invite you out on a proper date, but I knew you would love it, especially after the party the other night.” You had complained that modern slow dances held nothing against the proper dances of days long past, of the balls you had been to in your younger days.

    You saw the rest of the team already on the dance floor. They were here too, all dressed up, and all enjoying the ball. “Shall we?” Loki asked. You nodded and let him lead you onto the dance floor.

    He was all grace on the dance floor. He knew all of the steps to all of the old fashioned dances and you danced the night away with him. It was absolutely perfect. You missed proper dances, you missed balls, and the emotion and joy of dancing.

    It was either very late in the night or very early in the morning when you finally made your way back to the limo. Loki helped you slip his suit jacket on before you left the ballroom. “Thank you,” you told him softly. You were still estactic at the wonderful evening, but you were crashing hard. You’d been dancing all evening and had this not been a first date, your shoes would have been abandoned hours ago.

    Before you knew it, you were back at the tower, in the elevator back up to your room. Loki insisted on checking your room for intruders before he’d let you enter. You let him, he’d been overprotective since the intruder. “Did you have a good evening?” Loki asked after he’d verified the room was clear.

    “It was wonderful,” you purred with a stupid grin. He smiled brightly.

    “I’m glad you enjoyed it,” he replied warmly. You remembered you were still wearing his suit jacket and slipped it off and handed it back to him with another thanks. He took it and folded it over his arm. He didn’t need to put it back on, he was only going across the hall.

    “It was absolutely perfect,” you added.

    He tucked a loose strand of hair behind your ear and hesitated before he finally steeled himself to tentatively lean down for a goodnight kiss. “May I?” he whispered, just before his lips met yours. Perfect gentleman as usual.

    “Yes,” you breathed.

    His lips met yours, soft and cool, gentle and not pressuring for more. You kissed him back just as soft, just as gentle. It was a perfect first kiss.

    Loki broke it and kissed your forehead. “Sleep well, my darling,” he bid you softly.

    “Goodnight, Lokitty,” you replied warmly, sure after this evening that your friendship would survive becoming more.


	17. Chapter 17

    “Darling, it’s awfully early to be up on a Sunday, especially considering the late hour you retired last evening,” Loki greeted you with concern when you entered the living room the next morning. You tried hiding a yawn behind the stack of papers and laptop balanced precariously in your arms. It was only 5 in the morning and you hadn’t gotten home until, like 3. He was reading on his favorite couch, clearly enjoying the quiet with his cup of tea. “Love, go back to bed,” his voice was gentle, but his tone was concerned. You looked as exhausted as you felt. You dumped your burdens on the coffee table with another yawn.

    “Couldn’t sleep,” you told him. You tried to give him a reassuring smile, but failed. “I have work to do anyway to get ready for Pepper’s business trip. Figured since I couldn’t sleep might as well get some work done and maybe catch a nap later,”

    “You couldn’t sleep?” he asked. Stubborn cat was persistent in his worry.

    You smiled and kissed the top of his head in the perfect spot between his cat-ears. His cat-ears were perfectly visible again. He had dropped the illusions after your date. You were going to sorely miss them when he was finally able to remove them. They were just so damn adorable. “Just a bad dream. Nothing to fret over,” you told him warmly. He still seemed concerned, so you gently placed your fingers under his chin and tilted his head up so you could kiss him, softly, timidly. You’d only shared one real kiss so far and you were hesitant about the welcome for more. Your lips met his so softly, so carefully. He didn’t pull away, instead, his hands were on your waist, pulling you closer, clearly welcome to your advances, and you had to put your hands on his shoulders to steady yourself so you didn’t fall on him. The kiss was light, but still made him purr.

    He smiled up at you when you broke it. “Come here, darling,” he bid you gently and pulled you into his lap, not so you were straddling his legs, but so he was holding you safely in his arms, your head on his shoulder. He wrapped a blanket around you and kissed your forehead.

    “Lokitty, I have work,” you murmured, already lulled by the purrs rumbling in his chest, by the soothing spell he was rubbing into your back as he held you, by the heating spell on the blanket.

    He chuckled and kissed your hair. “It will still be there when you wake,” he told you softly, running his fingers through your hair.

    “You’re not sleeping,” you murmured.

    “ _I_ am of the Aesir, my darling. We require less sleep,”

    “Don’wanna see the fire again.” You weren’t supposed to mention that. You hadn’t told him about the nightmares before. Everyone on the team had them, but you still didn’t mention yours.

    “You can tell me all about the fire later. It can’t harm you while I’m here. No nightmares can,” he promised. “Hush now and get some rest, little sorceress,”

    *

    “It seems your evening went well, Brother!” Thor’s voice boomed.

    Loki’s arms tightened around you and he made a soft shh-ing noise before you could wake the rest of the way. “Quiet, oaf. You’ll wake her. She had a nightmare. I just got her back to sleep,” Loki’s voice was soft, his tone soothing to avoid waking you. “But if you must know, yes, my evening was quite enjoyable,”

    “A nightmare?” Thor’s voice was concerned, but much softer.

    “She didn’t say anything except that it was something about a fire,”

    “I did not know she suffered them as well. She keeps her negative emotions to herself. The night I rescued her from those...men... was a fluke. Understand the honor she does you, brother, that she is so intimate with you,”

    You made a soft noise and shifted more comfortably. Loki rubbed your back and kissed your forehead to soothe you back to sleep. “I do. Now kindly go away before you wake her,”

    *

    When you woke again you were still wrapped in the blanket, but laying on the couch, no longer in Loki’s arms. You jerked awake and shot up, looking for Loki. “I was just about to wake you!” he called from the direction of the kitchen. You got to your feet and wrapped the blanket around your shoulders to go see what the wayward trickster was up to. It wasn’t like him to wander off from guard duty, even if he was just guarding against nightmares. He was at the stove in the kitchen, his hair tied back in a queue.

    “Lokitty?” you asked softly. He looked over his shoulder at you.

    “Adorable as ever, darling,” he greeted you warmly. You couldn’t help smiling at the adorable happy Lokitty. You stepped the rest of the way into the room and peered around him to see what he was doing. He was making breakfast. It wasn’t fancy, just eggs and sausages, but it was adorable that he was doing it. Of course he’d trusted you to stay safe from nightmares long enough for him to make breakfast before he woke you, and he’d been nearby if you’d needed him. You started to reach up to the cabinet to get the plates, even wrapped in your blankie-cape. “Go sit down, dearest, I’ll bring breakfast over in a minute,”

    “Lokitty, it was just a bad dream. I’m not ill, or injured. You don’t have to take care of me,” you reminded him.

    He smiled and kissed your forehead. “I know I do not have to, but I wish to show you I care for you, little sorceress.” He shooed you back to the couch with a cup of tea. You kissed his cheek and curled up on your end of the couch, under your heated blanket and flipped on the news.

    It was normal news, weather, some footage of the team on a recent mission. Then: “Last night billionaire Tony Stark hosted a ball downtown for charity,” they showed some clips of the dancing, the people who were in better costumes than you had been. You had been wearing a normal floor length dress. Nat had been in a legitimate ball gown and complained the entire time that it was _way_ too much dress for one person. She made Steve dance with her and while he was awkward at first, the pair of them looked fantastic on the floor, mostly because Nat led. There was a _lot_ of footage of you and Loki on the news too. “It seems The Sorceress America’s Sweetheart has a thing for bad boys. She attended last night’s ball with none other than former super villain Loki of Asgard,”

    You flipped the TV to something else quickly. You didn’t want Loki to see the news referring to him as a super villain, even if it was ‘former’. It would make him sad. Happy Lokitty was way better than sad Lokitty. Anything was better than angry Lokitty...

    He came over a moment later and handed you your plate of breakfast. “Thank you,” you told him brightly, really appreciating the gesture. You ate breakfast watching the Dragons cartoon. Loki liked it for the Vikings, especially the twins who worshiped him. Plus there were dragons. “Once the stores open, I need to go to the mall,” you told him when you vanished the plates and dishes he’d used, clean, back to their cabinets. He’d made breakfast, so you took care of the dishes. It was only fair. “Do you want to come? I have to buy clothes, so it’ll probably be boring,” you added quickly, before he thought this was a fun outing.

    “I will come. I doubt shopping for clothing is as boring as you make it out to be,”

    “Just because _you_ like fashion doesn’t mean we all do,” you teased him. You floated the papers in front of you at eye level to read and summoned your craft bag from your room. You pulled out your knitting needles and a ball of the extra soft green yarn that you’d found at the craft store the other day.

    You saw Loki’s eyes get bright. “What’s that?” he asked, his cat ears flicking in interest. You smirked and held out the ball of yarn so he could see it.

    “Yarn and knitting needles,” you unwound a section of the ball and cast on the first row of your project. His eyes wouldn’t leave the yarn, or your needles as you worked. You showed him slowly for the first couple of rows. He kept reaching out automatically to touch the yarn. “My yarn, silly cat,” you teased him. He pouted and reached out again to touch the string of soft yarn. You sighed heavily and pulled the other ball of yarn out of the bag. “You can play with this one until I need it,” you told him. His eyes lit up in delight.

    “Why are you doing this?” he asked, gesturing at your knitting. He was perfectly content playing with the end of the string, running it through his fingers absently.

    “It’s called knitting. Christmas is coming and this will be a present when it’s done,” you explained. Your knitting needles flew with long years of experience and you read the papers in front of you as you worked.

    “What’s Christmas?” annoying bored god.

    “Oh, right, Asgardians wouldn’t have that. Do you celebrate Yule?” you asked. He inclined his head. “It’s like Yule, but after the Christians got ahold of it. It’s on December 25th. People celebrate differently, but the general principles are spending time with family and friends, eating too much food, and showing your love with an exchange of gifts,” you explained and got back to your reading. You had to study up on the material for Pepper’s business trip.

    “Are you just you must go on this trip?” Loki asked sadly when he realized what you were memorizing. You had worked hard over the years to earn a nearly photographic memory.

    “Stark asked me to go since he can’t. He wants Pepper to have added security, but I can also help her out with her business proposal, so she’s letting me come and not complaining. It’s only a few days,” you reminded him. “Now play with your string and let me memorize so we can go play in the mall,” you told him firmly. You were getting way further on your knitting project than your memorization project.

    “What are you memorizing?” Stark asked as he walked through the room to find breakfast. You sighed heavily.

    “Thermonuclear astrophysics, for the business trip _you’re_ making me go on,” you growled at him. He turned and glared at Loki who was allowed to interrupt you. Loki stuck his tongue out at Stark in reply. Silly adorable Lokitty.

    *

    “Try this one on!” Loki told you as he handed a bundle of cloth over the closed fitting room door. You sighed heavily. You should _not_ have brought the fashion loving Loki on this trip. However he was picking out the more gorgeous things, even if you were exhausted and kept having to try nearly everything in every store on. You had just needed a couple new things for the business trip. You didn’t have much in the ‘business casual’ category. Loki had also insisted you needed a couple new dresses for the inevitable going out in the evenings. You didn’t know where the rest of the clothes had come from.

    When you stepped out of the fitting room in the dress Loki had handed over the closed door, he was ever so politely making a suggestion to a middle aged lady on a shirt she was debating at the full-length mirror. He disappeared for a moment, almost literally, a returned with a more flattering, less expensive shirt for the lady. He’d been doing that kind of thing all day and was so polite and kind about it that he’d gained a lot of admirers from the ladies he’d helped. He was having so much fun at his game. He found _something_ to compliment every woman he saw coming in to try things on and no one complained about his presence.

    His eyes lit up when he saw you. “That one is gorgeous, darling,” he told you with a grin.

    “You’re too good at this, Trickster,” you told him as you ducked back in the fitting room to put on your real clothes again. You paid for the latest items for your growing wardrobe and Loki graciously carried the bags. You hesitated, but pointed him in the direction of the bookstore. “I have another shop I need to visit. You can go play in the bookstore until I’m done,” you offered.

    He raised an eyebrow and refused to drop your hand. You had convinced him that hand holding was the modern and less formal version your hand on his arm. “Why do you think I would wish to be separated from you, darling?” he asked.

    You sighed heavily. “Because I need new undergarments too and men _hate_ the lingerie store,” you explained with a flush. Some of the dresses, while gorgeous, required different bras than boring ugly ones you usually wore. Plus... you needed some nice things... for reasons. Not that you were expecting reasons anytime soon... but it was still best to be prepared. “So I am offering you an alternative while I take care of my errand,”

    “Well that seems illogical,” Loki told you, honestly flabbergasted. “It is simply another article of clothing... Besides, I wish for you to have nice things,” and he didn’t trust you to pick fashionable things out for yourself.

    That was fair.

    And so he somehow, with _way_ more comfort than you felt, blew through the lingerie store, analyzed everything they had, and had an entire collection of gorgeous, comfortable, well-fitting, underwear and bras. And everything matched. You had no idea how he’d done it, nor did you care because he’d saved you a _lot_ of time and feeling awful about your body. You were out of there in less than a half hour. It was impressive and even the staff were floored.

    You let him play in the bookstore since your errand was done. “Take your time,” you told him and kissed his cheek. “I’m going to sit in one of the comfy chairs,” he looked at you concerned and reached a hand up to your forehead. “I’m fine, Lokitty,”

    “You’ve been getting tired awfully easily lately,” he commented softly. He’d noticed. Of course he’d noticed.

    “I know. I have a favor to ask of you when we get home, though I hope you won’t be offended by the request...” you hesitated. You hated asking, but...

    “Anything for you,” he told you warmly. “We can go home now if your errand is over...” he offered, though you could see he didn’t want to leave the books without rescuing some of them.

    “No, we can stay, I promised you could rescue some new book friends,” you teased. You held on to his arm and he kept his pace much more reserved than usual. He happily picked out a few new books and you found a few that looked interesting to both of you.

    *

    “So, little sorceress, what favor did you wish to ask for?” Loki asked after a nice lunch out when you had finally made it back to the tower. You both carried your new wardrobe up to your bedroom and you used magic to hang everything up and put it away.

    You hesitated. You didn’t want to ask, but... “I really hate asking...and it’s rude of me too... and...” you hedged, uncomfortable and flustered. Loki wrapped his arms around you.

    “What is it, darling? Let me help. If it’s within my power, I’ll do it for you.” You didn’t understand why he cared so much for you. It seemed so soon, but you _had_ been friends for months...

    “Try not to be offended?” you asked softly. “I don’t mean an insult with the request-” you were babbling. Shit. You were tired and been fighting hard not to let anyone see it. Thor was right, you did hide your negative emotions from everyone.

    “Ask, love,” Loki told you more firmly.

    “C-can you turn back into a cat? Just for a couple of hours!” you added quickly before he could stiffen or get angry. “I’ve... been without a familiar in too long and it’s throwing me off... Merlin’s Beard, I can’t explain logically. I know you’re not a familiar, you’re my Lokitty, but..” you whimpered against his chest, sure he was angry at your request, sure he wouldn’t understand. You hadn’t been without a familiar this long and it was putting a strain on your emotions and mental health. You’d been trying not to show anyone. They wouldn’t understand.

    He gently backed you up to your bed and got you sitting down. “Why the delay if it puts this much drain on you to be without one?” Loki’s voice was soft and sad. He hadn’t noticed the strain you’d been under proving to everyone that you were ok.

    “I just lost my Tammy right before I joined the team. I needed time to mourn her loss and the team wouldn’t have understood a cat being part of the package with a new teammate, and it was too soon to adopt a new familiar, and by the time they were used enough to having a witch around, Thor brought you home...” Loki couldn’t have handled sharing you with a familiar. He had needed attention and care, so you’d put it off longer...

    “You delayed to make sure I was ok,” he said softly. You wouldn’t look at him, or answer that. “And while I refused to turn back, I could mimic the effect for you, at least enough,” he added astutely. Magic was weird sometimes...ok a lot of the time, and the emotional bond of familiars was one of those weird things. “Why didn’t you tell me, love?” He’d been human again for a few months now.

    “I didn’t want you to change back and refuse to turn back again. I like you like this and I’ve loved getting to know Asgardian-you and not just cat-you,” you told him softly. “And... since I got to know the real you, I’ve want a relationship with you, I wanted our friendship to become more... and that wouldn’t happen if you were stuck as a cat again,”

    He smiled and kissed you softly. “You have nothing to fear, my darling. I will not refuse to return to this shape, especially how that I have finally gotten to court you, my dear,” he added that last with a touch of possessiveness. Thor had warned you Loki was possessive and protective of what he loved. Thor had warned you about starting a romantic relationship with his brother. Loki cared and loved deeply when he actually opened himself up enough to trust someone with his love. But he was also possessive and territorial. Apparently a couple of kisses and a newly romantic relationship was enough to illicit the response from him. “And I will not deny you a couple hours of relief. Though you will have to explain how we remedy this permanently,” he told you. You started to open your mouth to answer. He placed a finger against your lips. “Later, love. For now,” there was a shimmer of green magic and the little black cat with bright green eyes was in your lap.

    You grinned at him. “Hello, Lokitty,” you told him and kissed the spot between his ears.

    “Mrow?” he asked.

    “Thank you,” you told him, running your fingers through his fur, petting him and scratching behind his ears so he’d purr for you. You cuddled him to your chest, cooing over him in a manner that was surely annoying. He seemed to relax when he realized that you were properly happy.

    You finally started regaining your balance when you sat with him in your lap, carefully brushing out his fur. He was a purring puddle of happy cat and you sighed as the strain on your emotions eased.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys, posting on mobile. We'll see how well this goes

     "Lady Y/N, have you seen-” Thor started, knocking softly on your open bedroom door. You were laying on top of the blankets on your bed. You _had_ been reading, but had evidently fallen asleep and now had a Lokitty curled in your arms like a plushie. Thor had managed not to wake you all the way. Loki squirmed out of your arms and hopped lightly off the bed. “Brother, you turned back? Why? I thought you were happy!” Thor’s voice was so sad, heartbroken.

    You made a soft noise and cracked your eyes open. You saw a shimmer of Loki’s green magic and he was human-shaped again. He gave you a soft smile and tucked a loose strand of hair behind your ear before he summoned a blanket to tuck around you. “Close your eyes. Go back to your nap, darling, I’ll see what my idiot brother wants,” he told you softly and kissed your forehead. You smiled and let your eyes close again.

    “I turned back briefly for her sake,” Loki told Thor after he stepped away from the bed. “She has been without a familiar for too long and it is straining on her health. She has been doing a damn good job hiding it from all of us, too, stubborn little sorceress...”

    “And you can correct it in that form-?”

    “Briefly, I can mask the symptoms for her briefly. What did you need, Brother?” Loki asked.

    “Stark and Barton wished to see you downstairs to ask for your assistance with something. Apparently you know the inner workings of the tower better than anyone but Stark,”

    “Very well, I’ll be down in a moment,” Loki hesitated before he spoke again. “Can you convince the others to allow her to have a cat, without complaining or teasing? I fear she will continue letting her mental and physical health deteriorate instead of imposing on the team...”

    *

    You didn’t know how long it was before you woke again, but you finally felt back to normal when you did. You were surprised to find there was no Loki anywhere in your room when you woke. That was very unusual. You sat up and finally saw the piece of paper on your nightstand surrounded by a shimmer of green magic. You reached out and picked it up, recognizing the magic as Loki’s. The shimmer was just to get your attention.

     _Don’t fret, love. I did not abandon you while you slept. The team simply needed my help with a project and I did not wish to wake you when you so desperately needed the rest. ~Loki_

    You smiled, touched that he thought of your feelings, thought that you’d worry if he wasn’t here when you woke from your nap. You set the note back down and got out of bed to go find your wayward trickster.

    You found him in Tony’s lab, perched on a stool while they both looked over something on Jarvis’ screens. “Lokitty, Stark,” you greeted them from the doorway. It was prudent to announce yourself before you entered the lab. Things tended to explode otherwise. Loki looked over at you and smiled.

    “Hey kid,” Stark said without looking up from what he was working on.

    “What’re you boys up to?” you asked, stepping over to peer over Loki’s shoulder. Stark had issues with personal space, but Loki didn’t mind. His arm snaked around you and he pulled you into his lap. You squeaked in surprise.

    “There isn’t another seat,” Loki explained as he held you securely on his lap. “And you would protest if I gave up mine,” he added logically. “We are looking over the security footage of the man who entered the tower to try to talk to you, looking for flaws in the system,” he answered your original question.

    “Admittedly, Reindeer Games is good with technology, and is...nearly... as smart as I am,” Stark explained. “Though how he’s so good at technology when he’s a mage is beyond me,”

    “Magic and science are one in the same on Asgard,” you and Loki both recited.

    “So I’ve heard,” Stark said and rolled his eyes.

    “Need help?” you asked.

    Stark shrugged. “An extra set of eyes wouldn’t hurt,”

    So you sat and watched the security footage with Stark and Loki. You watched Loki escort you back up to your room at the end of the Halloween party, watched Loki duck into the room to check for intruders before you entered. The footage fast forwarded to a man in black sneaking onto the elevator. “How’d he get past Jarvis?” you asked as you watched him ride up the elevator directly to your floor.

    “That’s what we don’t know. Jarvis can’t tell us why he let the man through either,” Stark explained.

    “J, can you zoom in on the man?” you asked, concerned when you finally saw him.

    “What is it, love?” Loki asked, catching your tone and expression. The costume was familiar, similar to a priest’s robes, big ugly cross included, but more armored. It had been Halloween, surely it was a costume, not real... It couldn’t be real...

    “He just looked familiar, is all,” you told Loki lightly. You didn’t want to worry him unless you were more sure. You wouldn’t get the entire team in a huff over an imagined foe.

    You looked over the tapes with Stark and Loki and the three of you found a couple things to tighten security on.

    “Are you ready for the business trip?” Stark asked as you all went upstairs for dinner. Loki’s arm was around your shoulders, protective, though you were safe.

    “Yeah, though we don’t head out until tomorrow after work,” you reminded him. “Don’t worry, Stark. We’ll be fine.” Tony was worried about Pepper’s safety.

    “I should be sending proper guards...” Tony fussed and worried. You rolled your eyes.

    “Stark, I can take care of her,” you reminded him firmly. “You’ve seen me fight,”

    “I can still dislike sending two ladies alone,”

    “Stark, I didn’t know you cared,” you teased. “We’ll be fine. I’m just extra security anyway. Happy and the team will be there most of the time,” you reminded him. “Now stop worrying before you get Loki worked up. He worries enough as it is,” you leaned up and kissed Loki’s cheek before he could complain about you talking about him or dismissing his worrying. “We’ll be fine. It’s a few days out of town. We’ll make the business deal and come home. No big deal,”

    The elevator doors finally slid open and you rejoined the team, grateful the conversation was ending, you didn’t need them all worrying. Loki’s arm stayed around you shoulders. “I dislike that you are going out of town with no real backup,” he told you softly.

    “Lokitty, I’ll be fine,” you told him again and cursed Stark for getting him worked up. You kissed him before he could comment and protest again. “It’s a couple of days. You can survive without me for a couple of days,”

    “I can still dislike it,” he pouted. You smiled and reached up to scratch behind one of his cat ears.

    The entire team sat around the coffee table in the living room eating Chinese food out of the containers. Steve had picked the movie tonight, so you were watching The Wizard of Oz while you ate, and laughing at the Asgardian’s attempts to use chop sticks. Thor laughed along with them and graciously gave up. Loki tried harder and finally got the hang of them.

    “So, Y/N, when are you going to get around to getting a new familiar?” Nat asked, lightly, casually, kindly. “Didn’t you lose your last one almost a year ago? I thought witches need familiars,” Nat knew everything so her question didn’t surprise you.

    “I’ve been a little busy...” you hedged. You didn’t want to impose your lifestyle that much on the team. They shouldn’t have to accept a magical animal as part of the bargain or you living here. “Besides, no new familiar has chosen me,” you added lightly and shrugged. “It’ll happen eventually.” You gave them a reassuring smile and the conversation changed from there.

    *

    “So, darling, how exactly does it work?” Loki asked as he walked you back to your room after the movies. It was late before the team decided to finally go to bed.

    “How does what work?” you asked in reply.

    “Finding a new familiar,” his tone was worried.

    “Nothing to worry about, Lokitty,” you tried to reassure him. He grabbed your arms, turning you in the hallway to face him. His arms remained clasped around your upper arms and he glared down at you.

    “Y/N,” his voice was harsh as he forced you to look at him. He wasn’t angry. He was worried, very worried. “Darling, I care for you deeply. Please tell me, let me help you,” he told you firmly. You saw then that he really did care. He was really worried.

    “Lokitty, I still have plenty of time...” you hedged again. He didn’t need to worry. You didn’t want him jealous of a new familiar. Magical creatures took up a lot of time and attention. Loki was so unsure and scared of rejection and abandomlnment already.

    And you didn’t want him leaving you because of it.

    “Love, the strain is tearing you apart. I’m sorry I didn’t see it or understand it until today, but we need to fix it. As soon as possible. You can't keep going like this. Let me help you, please.” He must have seen the hesitation in your eyes. “Why? Why are you insisting on delaying? Why are you doing this when it's obviously hurting you?” he demanded, tears in his eyes.

    “Because I love you, you idiot!”


	19. Chapter 19

    Loki’s hands dropped from your arms and he took a step back shocked. Utterly shocked. You blanched and clapped a hand over your mouth, horrified and unable to believe you’d just said that. You hadn’t realized what you said. Hadn’t planned it. Hadn’t thought.

    And now.

    You said it first.

    After only one date.

    Which was yesterday.

    It was the kiss of death to a relationship for the woman to say those words first. It was even worse after just one date. You’d ruined everything before it had even had a chance to begin. You felt tears in your eyes when you realized just how badly you’d blundered.

    “You... you love me?” Loki asked, dumbfounded and disbelieving. Your hand dropped from your mouth while you frantically tried to think to do something that just stand there stupidly. There had to be a way to fix it.

    “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean- I meant-” you spluttered trying to come up with _any_ explanation, anything at all that would help, or possibly fix this.

    Your panicked terrified spluttering seemed to have broken through his shock. He chuckled, smiled warmly, and placed a finger against your lips, silencing your spluttering, though fear left tears in your eyes. “Do not think to start lying to me now, my dear. You meant _exactly_ what you said. I find that people are most honest when they speak from emotion. Now, based on your reaction, you seem to expect that I am displeased by your words, when that cannot be further from the truth. I was simply surprised at your declaration, in no way upset by it. So tell me, what has you so frightened, little sorceress? Surely, you know I will not hurt you.” He removed his finger from your lips so you could answer.

    You thought for a moment on how to explain. He waited patiently for you to gather your words. “Males on Earth are stupid,” you finally started.

    He laughed. “Yes, darling, but what bearing does that have on this conversation?” he asked lightly.

    You tried to give him a tentative smile, but it was hard. You were afraid that his words and reassurances were just words. “One of them would be calculating how to most quickly end the relationship had I made the same mistake,” you told him softly. He raised an eyebrow, so you continued. “They get... bent out of sorts, if a woman says those words first and would flat out run away screaming had they been said after just one date, especially when that date was yesterday,” you admitted, your voice small and afraid as a single tear fell. You didn’t want to lose him over something so stupid.

    “Midgardian males _are_ stupid,” Loki agreed gently, wiping your tear away delicately with one long finger. He pulled you into his arms and held you to him. “They are morons indeed to claim that they wish for a lady to love them and they break her heart for daring to state that love in words. Would that I could meet the men who had hurt you so. I would gladly remove their tongues from them for harming you and frightening you so, my darling,” he kissed your forehead and ran his fingers through your hair, purring for you until you relaxed, until your fear that he would leave you had finally faded. “Let me enlighten you on a little secret, love,” you looked up at him and his gave you his mischievous smile. “Yes, last night was our first official Midgardian date, but I have been courting you since I returned to this form. To hear that you love me is a joy and something I never thought would happen,” he told you warmly, though you heard the bruise in his words, the fear that he would never find love. You knew he was bruised by his family on Asgard, except his Mother, but you hadn’t appreciated the extent of that bruising. “I love you as well, my darling,” he whispered into your hair.

    “You’re not-?” you tried to find the question, but it wouldn’t come, wouldn’t finish.

    “No, dearest, I am not going to leave you, never, unless you wish for me to,” he promised you softly. You sighed in relief, finally able to release the fear that you had messed everything up. “Now, will you kindly tell me how we find you a new familiar? I dislike seeing what the lack is doing to you. I promise not to be jealous of the creature,” he teased that last part and you couldn’t help smiling.

    “I’ll hunt for one after the business trip, ok?” you asked still softly, you were listening to the sound of his purring and didn’t raise your voice above it.

    He kissed the top of your head. “Very well. I will accept those terms and help you on your hunt if you would like the assistance?” his tone turned his last statement into a question.

    “I’ll let you know if I need help,” you told him and fought back a yawn. It was late and you had an early day tomorrow. You stepped out of his arms and looked up into his eyes. “So, when are you handing it over?” you asked him with a smirk.

    “Handing what over, darling?” he asked a touch too innocently, which just made you smile brighter.

    “Whatever token, charm, spell, whatever you’re planning on sending with me on this business trip as extra protection,” you told him. He looked mildly surprised. “I know you’re planning something, Trickster. You already don’t like that I’m going on this trip, and that you can’t come too. I don’t believe for an instant that you’d let me go without _some_ kind of extra protection.” You told him firmly. He inclined his head with a warm smile.

    “My lady does know me too well,” he grinned, seeming pleased that you’d known he’d send you with some kind of extra protection since he couldn’t accompany you. At least he was smart enough not to try to deny that he was planning something, and you had to admit that it warmed your heart that he cared so much. “I will give it to you tomorrow. I still have a couple of finishing touches on the spell,”

    You nodded and leaned up to kiss his cheek. “Then I’ll see you in the morning. Don’t forget I’ll be up early. I have to go into the office to help Pepper with some last minute things before the trip. We’re taking a jet from here, so I’ll make sure to see you before we leave,”

    “I remember, darling,” he told you with just a hint of exasperation. You’d made sure that he knew the plans for the trip. He leaned down to kiss you lightly. “Sleep well, my love,”

    “Goodnight, Lokitty,” you opened your bedroom door, let him see and probe the room for intruders and closed the door behind you to get some sleep.

    *

    You had a quick breakfast with Loki, Nat, and Clint the next morning. They were heading out on a mission after breakfast. It was a fairly quiet breakfast, but nice and peaceful nonetheless. “Apparently you’re into bad boys,” Nat teased, glancing up at the TV screen which was showing tabloid pictures of you and Loki at the mall yesterday.

    You rolled your eyes. “The tabloids will say anything for a story. Ignore them, Lokitty,” you told Loki before he could get upset. You had to admit that the pair of you were adorable, though. You took a closer look at the pictures, but it was only a glimpse of black clothing in the background. Not enough to be sure. You wouldn’t get the team riled up without proof. Besides, there was no reason for them to come after you, you were just paranoid.

    You spent the morning and early afternoon with Pepper getting the final preparations done for the trip, making sure her staff knew what they needed to do without her for a couple of days, threatened Tony not to blow up all of the labs and show some constraint, and reminded Bruce that he was supposed to babysit Tony while Pepper was gone.

    “Are you driving over to the tower, or do you want a lift?” you asked Pepper before you left, holding out a hand.

    “Driving, I still need to pick up some things. I’ll see you over there in a little bit,” she told you. “Thanks again for coming,”

    “No problem,” you told her, though you really didn’t want to go on this trip. You’d been asked, though and had no real reason to decline. You vanished, then, reappearing a moment later in the living room.

    You yelped when arms grabbed you as you materialized, but giggled when you realized it was Loki. His hands were on your waist and he spun you around in a circle before hugging you close and giving you a kiss. “Welcome home, darling,” he told you, his voice full of mirth.

    “Hi, silly Lokitty,” you replied, still smiling, and reached up to scratch behind one of his cat-ears before running your hand down his long hair. His eyes closed and he purred softly. “I’m going to miss you,” you told him as you ran your fingers through his hair again.

    “And I you, darling. At least it is only a couple of days,” he told you and kissed you again, a light, chaste kiss his lips soft on yours, not pressuring, until you wrapped your arms around his neck for balance, standing on your toes to kiss him deeper, better. Your fingers wound in his hair, his strong hand cradled the back of your head and neck, holding you to him. Your lips parted, you tongue danced with his, until you finally broke the kiss, breathing heavily, and laughing as you realized your breath was fogging from the chill of his kisses.

    “That was fun,” you told him stupidly.

    He chuckled and kissed the top of your head. “I’m glad my lady is pleased, but don’t you have a trip to finish preparing for?” he asked lightly.

    You sighed. “I do,” you grumbled. You took his hand to drag him upstairs with you to get ready. There were only a couple more things to do, namely throw your phone charger and a couple other last minute things in your bag, so you got to enjoy more kisses with your Loki while you waited for Pepper to arrive.

    “Miss Y/N. Miss Potts has arrived. She requests that you meet her at the jet as soon as you are ready,” Jarvis announced. You sighed heavily.

    “That’s my cue,” you told Loki sadly.

    “One moment,” Loki told you and came around behind you. You looked over at him, wondering what he was up to. His arms came around you, his hands meeting in front of your face and when he spread them, there was a simple diamond pendant suspended on a chain between his hands. It was beautiful even its simplicity. You reached up to hold your hair out of the way and Loki clasped the necklace around your neck.

    “It’s lovely,” you told him and turned to kiss him.

    “Not nearly as lovely as you, my darling,” he told you brightly. “It isn’t much, but the design is simple enough that it will go with everything we acquired for your trip,” so you wouldn’t have to take it off. He really didn’t like that you were going without proper backup. “I won’t interfere or impose on your trip, but if you need backup, call me, and I will be there in an instant. Promise me you won’t hesitate if there’s danger,” he bid you urgently.

    “I promise,” you told him and kissed him again. “It’ll be fine, Lokitty. We’ll be back before you know it. I’ll have my phone with me. I’m not going to be out of touch,” you reminded him again.

    He kissed you again gently and picked up your suitcase. You headed up to the flight deck where Tony and Pepper were saying, AKA kissing, goodbye at the jet. Happy took your bag from Loki to load on the jet. You kissed Loki, deeply, then when you were sure you had his attention. “Play nice with the others while I’m gone. Try not to stab your brother. He has to _really_ deserve it,” you added quickly before he could protest. “And you have to be able to convince me that he deserved it,” he pouted at that. “I’ll text you when we land and I’ll see you on Thursday,” you told him while Pepper was giving Tony a very similar speech.

    “I love you,” he told you softly, tentatively.

    You smiled and gave him one last soft kiss. “I love you too.” You waved at the sad Lokitty as you got on the jet.

    *

    The trip went as expected. A car met you when the jet landed and you texted Loki that you had arrived safely as you were driven to the hotel. You and Pepper had a suite with your own bedrooms opening to a central living room. Perks of travelling with the CEO of a giant corporation, the accommodations were super nice. The food was also fantastic through the entire trip. The presentation went smoothly, Pepper made the deal with no issues, though your knowledge and preparations did come in handy. You also saw that Happy was pleased that you could pretend to be her assistant and stay as a much closer guard than he could. You sent messages to Tony with updates since Pepper was busier than you were. You also sent pictures of all the food to Loki, as well as selfies in the clothes he’d helped you pick out for the trip. He sent you a picture of the rest of the team, and...somehow... a selfie with Thor. You made sure to save that one.

    You surprised Loki by calling him Tuesday evening when you were getting ready for bed. “Hello?” he asked hesitantly and you realized that no one ever called him, so he had no real use for knowing how the phone aspect worked.

    “Hi, Lokitty,” you greeted him warmly.

    “Y/N! This is a surprise,”

    “I missed you, thought I’d call you to say hi,” you explained.

    “The sentiment is appreciated, darling. I miss you as well. How is the trip going?”

    You told him all about Pepper in action verses the businessmen and how she’s thoroughly kicked their asses and made them sign the deal. The official signing was the next day, but they had already agreed to the terms. You talked with Loki for a long time, until you were curled in your bed, nearly asleep on the phone.

    “Go to bed, darling,” Loki told you warmly, when you missed answering one of his questions since you were too far asleep already.

    “Mmm?” you asked sleepily.

    “I love you, dearest, and I appreciate the call, but it’s quite late and time to hang up the phone and go to sleep,”

    “Love you too,” you replied and managed to hang up the phone before you fell asleep.

    *

    There was a celebration party your last night there. You and Pepper both donned fancy dresses and you did both of your hair with magic, which she was greatly appreciative of. You were both tired and ready to head home, but you had to celebrate the business deal with the stupid businessmen. The party was crowded, filled with drinks, appetizers, and way, way too many people. You didn’t know why they were all here, except to annoy you. You stuck close to Pepper, watching the crowd for threats, though it had been a really quiet trip.

    “Tell your assistant to lighten up and have fun!” one of the businessmen bothered Pepper when you turned him down for a dance.

    She gave him a too-polite smile. “Y/N isn’t single either, Dave. Stop hitting on all of my assistants,” she told him firmly. He laughed it off.

    Thankfully, the crowd didn’t stay so thick for long. Most of the underling-businessmen left early in the evening. You saw figures in black, but didn’t think anything of it, most of the men were in black suits, caught a flash of gold in the crowd, but told yourself you were just paranoid.

    Until your phone went off.

    You pulled your phone out to check the message while Pepper was chatting with a businessman. It was a text from the Headmistress of the magic school. And it was only one word long:

    -Run-

    Your head snapped up and you scanned the room again. You didn’t see anything, but... the Headmistress wasn’t to be ignored. You touched Pepper’s arm, getting her attention. “Sorry for the interruption,” you told the businessman. “Urgent business,” you indicated your phone. He nodded and took a step back, understanding that Pepper was a CEO and business came up.

    “What’s going on?” she asked. She knew you wouldn’t interrupt for ‘business’, only if something was wrong.

    “We’re going to Happy. Now. Don’t draw attention,” you whispered. She nodded, straightened her spine, and you started walking as if she really did have urgent business to attend to. You thanked all the gods for her nearly Nat-like ability to adapt to whatever situation was going on around her without questioning or understanding it. You saw figures move in the crowd. “Keep walking,” you told Pepper. She did as you said. Happy was watching and moved toward her. She was safe.

    You turned, trying to see who the figures were, trying to see the threat, if it was a threat or if you were just being paranoid. You and the Headmistress both being paranoid, though? You didn’t see the threats before you heard the soft ‘fwump-pop’ sounds. You didn’t realize what the sounds were until you shrieked in surprise at the sting of the twenty or so darts hitting your body at the same time. They weren’t after Pepper at all.

    They were after you.

    You saw the threats then. The men in black suits with clerical collars, big gold crosses, priests all of them. They’d been hiding in the crowd and you recognized them immediately, even without their usual robes. They were rushing for you when they saw the darts had hit their marks.

    The drugs hit your system fast and hard as you stupidly reached for a dart to try to yank it out of your arm. Your vision was clouding, turning black as your limbs turned to jelly, your brain turning to mush. You reached for your magic, but it was gone, just...gone. “Loki!” you shouted before the drugs fuddled your brain too much. You’d promised to call for backup if you needed, so call you did.

    You hoped he would come in time.

    Hoped his token worked

    Hoped he would hear

    Hoped...

    as the world swam

    as you fought to remain standing

    as you fought to do

    anything

    ...hop...ed...


	20. Chapter 20

    Time was being wibbly-wobbly because of the drugs.

    Less than an instant had passed.

    It felt like ages.

    Your knees buckled from under you, despite your fighting to keep your feet, a strong cool arm wrapped around you before you hit the ground. Loki was there, bracing you and holding you on your feet, secure against his body so you wouldn’t fall, though you were limp against him, useless dead weight. “Y/N!” he called. You blinked and tried to look up at him. You couldn’t focus. You tried so hard. “Y/N, stay with me,” he told you firmly. You made a soft noise of assent.

    “Run,” you managed to tell him. Did the word actually come? You couldn’t be sure. There were more soft pops of the dart guns, but the darts evaporated before they hit Loki. He glared and threw daggers, but the men were already fading back into the crowd, escaping before Loki could kill them all. He would too, except that he was focused on protecting you, on removing the darts from your body. You lifted an arm, though it weighed a ton and felt like trying to swim through taffy to move it and pointed. “Pepper,”

    “Hush, I’ve got you. I’ll get her too,” he swept you up effortlessly into his arms. You made a soft noise as the world spun and faded, as pain wracked your body. One of his clones grabbed the last of the attackers before he could vanish too. The clone and attacker vanished in a flash of green light. Loki swept over to Pepper in a moment, carrying you as if you weighed nothing. “Take my arm, I’m taking you home,” he told her firmly, not unkindly, not impolitely, just a firm order he expected to be obeyed.. Happy started to protest. “I am taking the ladies home. I can get them to safety in an instant,” Loki glared at Happy and reminded him, just as firmly. Happy gulped and finally nodded, accepting that Loki would kill him to get his charges home if that’s what it took. He had taken Pepper into his care as well as you.

    Pepper bravely stepped forward and placed her hand on Loki’s arm. “That’s it?” she asked, unsure about magic and how it worked.

    He nodded curtly and looked at you. “Stay awake, love,” he bid you. An instant later, you were in the living room of the tower. Pepper ran to Tony and started explaining what had happened. Nat was in the corner of the room, thoroughly beating information out of the man in the clergy costume. You knew it was just a costume. You had seen their real armor and robes before.

    Loki laid you gently on the couch while you whimpered softly. Loki shhed and soothed while he removed the darts. You writhed in pain, crying, as the drugs and potions worked through your system. “Brother, can’t you do anything for her?” Thor asked, worried and helpless. Loki’s hands were glowing green. He placed one on your forehead and the pain eased slightly.

    “I’m doing what I can,” Loki snapped in reply. You still writhed as the potion ate through your body, burning your magic. Loki caught your attention, using magic to keep you from the pain, help you stay awake and aware. “Focus, love, I can’t do this long,” he bid you. “Do you know who those men are? What they wanted with you?”

    “Witch hunters,” you told him as his spells broke an instant later. You yelled in pain and the world swam back out of focus.

    “They think she’s been corrupted to evil magic because of her relationship with you,” Nat announced from her corner as she punched the man in the face again, just for the hell of hurting her friend.

    “Shit,” Loki swore softly. “She’s not safe here. Brother,” he looked up at Thor again. Thor nodded his understanding.

    “Go. Wait for me when you get there. I’ll be right behind you. I will explain to our friends. Get your lady to safety,” Thor said firmly.

    Loki nodded once and turned your attention back to you. He pushed your hair back from your face, using more magic as he did to soothe the pain. “You’ll be alright, love. I’m getting you out of here.” He lifted you carefully back into his arms. You couldn’t help crying out and whimpering. Your limbs were still jelly, you couldn’t actively control them. The drugs and potions kept you woozy, dizzy, useless, but didn’t let you pass out to avoid the pain. “I know, love, I know it hurts. Hold on, just a little longer,” Loki told you, sad and hurt that you were in such pain and there was so little he could do for you.

    The team was demanding where Loki was taking you when he vanished again. You reappeared on the roof of the tower. “Don’t fear, love. You’re safe with me,” he reminded you.

    “You lost your ears,” you told him dumbly. That wasn’t important at all, but his cat ears were gone and it seemed so important to tell him. He seemed to relax that you could make such a stupid silly comment.

    “I’ll put them back on for you when you’re well,” he promised you softly. “Hush now,” he told you warmly, kindly.

    He looked up to the sky, which seemed like quite a silly thing for him to do. “Heimdall,” he said just the one word, not even very loudly, but tightened his grip on you in anticipation of something. Your brain was working stupidly slow, or you’d have remembered Thor calling on Heimdall to open the Bifrost on previous occasions. Suddenly you were surrounded by rainbow lights. You shut your eyes and hid your face against Loki’s neck, cringing at the sensation of falling toward the sky. Loki stepped forward into a large circular room, you realized when you braved opening your eyes again. There was a very large man with a scarily large sword.

    “Welcome to Asgard,” he told you both formally.

    Asgard?

    Loki had brought you to his home?

    You didn’t understand how or why.

    “Loki,” you mewed softly. “I can’t. It hurts,” you whimpered, fighting back tears.

    “I know, dearest, I know. Sleep now. They can’t get you here. I’ll take care of you. You’ll be just fine. I love you, my darling,” his lips pressed against your forehead and you felt his magic flood your mind. With your own powers being burnt away by drugs and potions, you couldn’t have stopped him if you wanted to. He gave you the only relief he could at the moment, letting you escape into unconsciousness.


	21. Chapter 21

    There were loud voices nearby when you started to rise from the enchanted sleep. A man was roaring: “Send the mortal back to Midgard at once. Let one of their healers tend to her!” he was shouting.

    “Lady Y/N is no mortal. She is Loki’s love and has made him better since he has been on Midgard,” Thor’s voice yelled back.

    Your brain panicked, sensing danger and tried to wake you the rest of the way, but Loki’s spell had only lifted slightly and wasn’t letting you wake any further than the vague awareness you had. “Shh, love. You’re safe. No need to wake yet, my darling,” Loki’s voice in a healer’s croon, soft and soothing.

    “Odin, darling. I love you dearly, but kindly have your argument elsewhere. You are disturbing my patient,” came an overly patient gentle woman’s voice.

    Loki’s arm was under your shoulders and he lifted you to a sitting position, your head supported on his shoulder. You hadn’t even risen enough from the enchanted sleep to open your eyes. Loki held you to him, cradling, supporting your nearly dead weight. You made a soft pained noise. “Shh, love,” he bid you softly.

    “Hurts,” you murmured, becoming aware again of the burning pain

    “I know, dearest. That shit, sorry Mother,” he said quickly. The woman laughed. “That _stuff_ those pieces of walking carrion drugged you with is quite nasty indeed,” he held a glass to your lips. “Drink this, love. It will help, I promise.” It was hard and took so much effort even with help, but you managed to drink the potion. It felt like ice flowing through your veins. “Good, my love,” he told you gently and the glass vanished. He laid you carefully, so carefullly, back down on the bed and kissed your forehead. “Back to sleep, my love,” he told you warmly as his sleep charm pulled you gently back to sleep.

    You woke a couple more times, just long enough for Loki to feed you potions and healing brews, just long enough to hear his gentle, loving words, his reassurances that everything would be ok.

    *

    You woke again feeling a pull in the depths of your power? heart? soul? It was a difficult feeling to explain, but you felt the calling and had to answer. Your eyes snapped open and you found yourself in a large, plush comfortable bed in a bright, airy room. The morning sun was coming in through the open balcony doors. Loki was on the bed next to you asleep, propped up against the pillows, the book he had been reading open in his lap.

    Before you could investigate your surroundings further, the call pulled again, demanding your attention. You swung your legs out of the bed, insistent on following the call. Loki’s eyes snapped open and his hand wrapped firmly around your wrist. “Love, stay in bed. You aren’t well,” he told you when you looked at him with glazed, unfocused eyes.

    “She calls me,” you informed him, your voice far away and dreamy.

    He looked you over more closely, your dull voice and glazed, distant eyes drawing his attention. “Darling?” The call pulled again, forcing you from the bed, despite Loki’s hold on your wrist. “Love, what is it?” he asked firmly, scrambling off the bed after you, refusing to let go of your wrist.

    “She calls me,” you repeated. Why didn’t he understand?

    “Who, darling? Tell me who,” he pulled you into his arms, despite your protests that you had to _go_.

    “Seraphina,”

    You stepped forward. He would either have to let you go or come too. He growled and held firm. The force pulling you hand’t expected that outcome. You whimpered and tried to push out of his arms. You had to go. “Curse those witch hunters to the bowels of Hel for obliterating your defenses,” he cursed while you tried to tug out of his grip, wailing that she was calling for you and needed you. Your body was weak from the drugs, no match for him. Your mind wasn’t there, only the call was registering at all.

    “She’s calling,” you whimpered at Loki. You had to go to her.

    “Alright, love. We’ll go find her together,” he finally agreed. You sagged in relief. He summoned a cloak to wrap over you, covering your simple nightgown. He took your hand firmly, but stopped trying to restrain you and hold you here. You feet moved on their own and you padded from the bedchamber.

    “Brother, what did you need?” Thor asked, coming out of a room just down the hall, finishing buttoning his obviously just put on pants, Mjolnir dangling from one wrist. Loki must have sent an illusion or something to wake his brother. “Y/N?! Should you be out of bed?” he added, seeing you. Loki’s arm was around you, holding you on your feet.

    “Come with us,” Loki told Thor urgently, not daring to try to get you to pause on your...sleepwalking... “Something or someone has possessed her. I don’t know what’s waiting for us when we get there and I feel better to have backup,” he admitted. He hated admitting that Thor had uses, or that he could trust his brother to help him.

    “You cannot stop her?” Thor asked as he caught up with you.

    “No. She can’t be reasoned with and I couldn’t break the compulsion with magic. It will only hurt her to forcibly restrain her. The only thing to do is let it run its course. With both of us to defend her...” Loki trailed off.

    “She will be safe, Brother,” Thor replied and came up to walk on your other side.

    And so the three of you padded through the halls of the palace, the boys on alert while you followed the call, unable to do anything else.

    “The magicians’ corridor?” Thor asked as you wandered the halls. Loki stiffened. Thor and Loki traded places without a word, so used to fighting together over the years, Thor’s arm was around you to support you, Loki moving to guard. If it was a magician messing with you, he was more equipped to deal with it than Thor.

    You finally entered one of the magical workrooms. “You can’t be in here!” a voice greeted the three of you. You kept following the pull of the call, ignoring the man.

    “I am sure you will agree you were mistaken on that comment,” Loki told the man with an icy edge to his tone. The man gulped when he recognized the princes. You ignored them and went straight to the back of the workroom to a cabinet there.

    “No!” the magician protested. Until he had a dagger to his throat.

    “What have you done to my lady?” Loki snarled at him.

    “I have done nothing, but that is mine!” the magician protested as you knelt and opened the cabinet, surprised by the heat inside. There was a nest and a heat lamp, the whole thing looking like an incubator. In the nest was a large purple egg with a thick shell. You lifted it into your arms, cradling it to your chest and cooing at it softly.

    “Seraphina,” you told it softly, stroking the shell of the egg, sitting on the floor happily cuddling the egg.

    “I assure you, whatever that creature is, it does not belong to you, nor should you have had possession of it. The queen is being told of this as we speak,” Loki snarled at the magician.

    The compulsions finally broke, now that the egg was in your possession. You blinked stupidly up at Loki and Thor. “Lokitty?” you asked, confused. You were exhausted and should not have been out of bed. You definitely shouldn’t have been wandering the palace in your pajamas and not completely healed.

    “Thor, if he so much as moves... well, be creative,” Loki told his brother and rushed to your side. “Darling, are you alright?” he asked you, worry in his tone. You laid your head on his shoulder.

    “Tired,” you mumbled, cuddling the egg to your chest.

    He smiled softly and kissed your forehead, his arms around you and holding you to him, safely cuddled in his arms. “I know, dearest. You have no business being out of bed. Your magic is still gone and you’ve barely been cleared to leave the healing room,”

    “Seraphina needed me,” you told him and stroked the egg again. Happy even in your exhaustion.

    “The creature in the egg called you here?” he asked. You nodded tiredly.

    “New familiar,” you told him softly, your eyes were too heavy. Your eyes snapped open and you held the egg more defensively when footsteps came into the room. For better or worse, whatever was in the egg was your charge.


	22. Chapter 22

    Your head snapped up to see who was intruding, to see if it was a threat. Not that you were in _any_ shape to deal with a threat...

    A woman in a long elegant dress entered the room. She held a regal air about her and you had a suspicion this was the queen. “Explain yourselves,” she ordered, but her voice was still gentle and kind. It was the same voice you’d heard in the healing room. Definitely the queen, since Loki had called her ‘Mother’ in the healing room.

    Loki stood and pulled you to your feet with him. You noticed again that his cat-ears were gone, though again your brain picked an inopportune time to notice that detail. You would have to ask him about it at a better time. “Mother,” he and Thor greeted the woman at the same time. Yep, definitely the queen. You were meeting the queen, in your pajamas, holding a probably illegal egg. Granted, she’d seen you unconscious and whimpering in pain, so this was at least an improvement.

    Still, it wasn’t the best way to meet your boyfriend’s mom... You didn’t think you were making a good impression... at all...

    You sank into a graceful curtsy. Loki looked surprised, but didn’t question it. You had grown up with curtsies as a polite greeting. “Your majesty,” you murmured politely, still holding the egg. Loki wrapped an arm around you when you rose again at the queen’s nod. He didn’t trust you to stay on your feet without help. Wise man.

    “Your majesty, your sons and this lady barged in my workshop this morning to abscond with my project,” he gestured to the egg in your arms. You tightened your grip on it and took a step back. Loki’s arm tightened around you, holding you safely against his side.

    “I believe I have informed you already, Ingris, that experimentation on creatures is not tolerated here,” she told the magician with the same icy tone that Loki had when he was upset. She questioned him further on the nature of his experiments, glowering at his answers which would have harmed your Seraphina the moment she hatched. “You are dismissed from apprenticeship here and are to leave the palace immediately. The guards will escort you. Thor, kindly see that it is done,” she added warmly to Thor.

    “Yes, Mother,” he replied and glared at the magician.

    You held the egg more closely to your chest when the queen turned her attention to you and Loki, afraid she was going to try to take it from you. “Don’t be afraid, dear. I shall not harm the creature,” you relaxed a little, though you were still afraid she was going to try to take it away. “Your lady should be resting, darling,” she scolded Loki gently.

    He inclined his head. “I am aware, Mother. However, the creature called to her to be rescued and become her companion. The need was pressing as you saw. I believe I told you that Midgardian magicians require the companionship of a magical creature for their health and well being?” he asked politely, though you knew that if he was saying he told her, then he had. There was no questions about it. She inclined her head. “It appears that this creature, whatever it is, has chosen my lady,”

    She looked you over. “Then I shall leave the creature in your care. I must warn you both, that it is a creature of experimentation. If it becomes a danger...”

    “Then it will be my duty as its caretaker to remove the danger,” you told her softly, but firmly. You knew your duty and had a corrupted familiar once before... it was not an experience you wanted to repeat, but you would do your duty.

    She inclined her head again. “Very well. Darling, get your lady back to bed. She is in no shape to be up and about after what those...men... did to her,” she told Loki firmly. He grinned at you and swept you into his arms before you could protest. The queen laughed, smiling when you settled more comfortably in Loki’s strong arms, your head on his shoulder, the egg held safely in your arms.

    “Gladly. Thank you for your assistance, Mother,” he leaned down to kiss her cheek without his grip on you changing at all. She touched his cheek fondly.

    “Of course, darling,”

    Loki stepped through the doorway of the workshop and a moment later you were back in the bedchamber. “Don’t scare me like that again, love,” he told you softly as he tucked you back into the plush bed.

    “Didn’t mean to...didn’t know,” you told him softly. You hadn’t expected to find a familiar here, much less be called like that. It usually happened far less dramatically.

     He kissed you lightly. “I’m just glad you’re alright. Rest, love. You still have quite a bit of recovering to do.” That was an understatement. Whatever the witch hunters had drugged you with had been designed to incapacitate you quickly and brutally.

    “You’ll stay?” you asked, your voice soft. You didn’t want to be alone in this unknown world.

    “I will be here when you wake,” he promised.

    You reached up to stroke his hair, starting in the place where his cat-ears had been. “You kept them around longer for me, didn’t you?” you asked him. It was illogical to miss the silly cat-ears. They weren’t part of his natural form and you knew it, but...

    “I did,” he admitted softly, looking embarrassed. “You liked them...”

    “I love _you_ ,” you replied. “No matter your form, silly Lokitty,” you added warmly. “Why lose the ears now, though?”

    He smiled. “Because my family would not understand. Also...I am a master magician here... It wouldn’t do for the people to think less of my abilities, which they would if they thought I had lost control of a spell in that manner...” he tried to explain. You smiled warmly at him.

    “You’re a prince. You have to keep up appearances for the sake of the royal family,” you summarized for him and bit back a yawn.

    “Yes, darling. Now go back to sleep. Those drugs wreaked havoc on you,” he snarled softly that you’d been harmed. “And this morning’s adventure didn’t help anything.” You tiredly grabbed his arm and tried to pull him onto the bed with you. He sighed, looked put-upon, and reclined against the pillows next to you, letting you curl yourself into his arms and pillow your head on his chest. “Your mom’s gonna hate me,” you murmured once you were comfortable.

    He kissed your forehead. “Why do you say that, dearest?”

    “I’m weak...not worthy of you,” your murmurs were becoming softer.

    You felt rather than hurt Loki’s sigh. “Darling, if you only understood how very wrong you are. Mother will love you when you can meet her properly. She is very much aware that you were attacked and will not judge you on your current state. I promise, my love. It means the world that you wish for my family to like you,” he kissed your forehead again and you heard and felt the purrs rumbling through his chest, a relaxing soothing sound. “It is I who am unworthy of you, dearest. Now go back to sleep. You need rest,”

    *

    “Darling? Y/N, wake up,” Loki told you urgently. His urgent tone had your eyes snapping open.

    “Whas-goin-on?” you asked stupidly as you tried to wake the rest of the way. Your brain hadn’t woken as fast as your eyes. Your depleted magic wasn’t helping anything either. You felt something move in your lap and looked down at the egg you still had cradled in your arms. The creature inside was moving, there were cracks already forming in the shell. You sat up quickly. “Come on, Seraphina,” you encouraged the creature in the egg.

    The cracks spread and the egg began to crumble as the creature pushed its way out. You cooed and encouraged and finally the creature escaped from the shell. It was a tiny, scaly black dragon with bright green eyes. “Good job, Sera,” you told her and managed to summon a towel to clean her off. That took more power than you wanted to admit. The little dragon made a happy trilling noise when she was clean.

    “Tony is going to blow a gasket,” Loki commented with a hint of glee in his voice. The little dragon hissed at Loki. You bopped it on the nose.

    “Play nice with Loki,” you told her firmly when she whined. You touched her head, reached for your magic, but it just... wasn’t there. You cursed softly.

    “What is it, love?” Loki asked and kissed the top of your head.

    “Those bastards burned away all of my magic and I need it for this,” you growled softly. The little dragon tilted its head and trilled. You petted it softly. “Shh, I’m not mad at you,”

    “What exactly is _this_?” Loki asked softly, pondering.

    “Making the telepathic link to bind the familiar,” you answered, pondering how to do that without you powers. It needed done now. Loki’s lips were against your temple, his power suddenly there for you to use. You hadn’t appreciated _just_ how strong his magic was. You felt it now. “Lokitty! I didn’t mean- I wasn’t asking-” you protested.

    “I’m aware,” he whispered, his tone dry. He was offering because he wanted to, not because you’d asked or begged. “Do what you need. I’ll spot you the power,”

    “But-” you protested again. The dragon made another trilling noise. “I know, Sera, I know.” You stroked its head and turned to Loki, kissing him lightly. “Thank you.” It only took a drop of power to make the telepathic link with the dragon.

    /Mine!/ she told you and you couldn’t help laughing.

    “Yes, hush now, Sera,” you replied. The telepathic link still open you gave her all your memories, everything. It was vital, especially with this strong of a familiar, that she know everything about you. “Do you still want me as a companion?” you asked the little dragon when you had finished. It had to be her choice.

    /Mine/ she repeated firmly.

    You smiled, kissed the top of her head and made the bindings. The little dragon sneezed at your use of Loki’s magic. He sighed at the small flame and used ice to extinguish it. You looked more closely at the dragon. It had already doubled in size since it hatched, now roughly the size of a house cat.

    The dragon glared at Loki. “Mine,” it said firmly and hissed softly. Shit. It could talk. You let go of Loki’s power and found the dragon was holding the telepathic link for you. It was so strong already.

    “You have to share, little one,” Loki told the dragon firmly, but kindly. “I’m not going to hurt her any more than you are, but I am also not giving up the lady I am courting,”

    The dragon thought about that, tilted her head. “Mate? Mate can stay. If he behaves,” she finally agreed, with only a smaller glare at Loki. Damn little dragon was already overprotective of you. She thought a little harder. “Is there food?” Loki summoned something for the dragon to devour and cajoled you into eating too. You just wanted to sleep forever.

    You sighed in relief when the dragon and Loki were getting along. You worried about both of them. Loki was so...unsure and scared of losing you most of the time. “Now that that’s settled...” you curled yourself more comfortably in Loki’s arms, the dragon curled in yours like a plushie. It had nearly doubled in size again. It looked displeased about that fact.

    “The humans will be scared of a dragon,” she informed you a bit sadly.

    “I’ll protect you,” you reassured her sleepily. She nuzzled your cheek and trilled happily.

    With a shimmer of magic, the puppy-sized dragon was suddenly a little black cat with wings. “This form is better,” she announced and curled sleepily and contentedly in your arms. She was purring in moments, but there was a slight musical trilling note to her purrs that made you smile.

    “Thank you, Loki,” you told him sleepily. He kissed your forehead.

    “It was no trouble at all, love. Especially to see you so happy again. It is also going to be highly entertaining when the team realizes that your new cat is really a dragon,”

    “That they are,” you agreed, laughing. You bit back another yawn.

    “Rest, darling. Odin has requested our presence for dinner. You need to be up and properly mobile by then,” Loki told you softly.

    “My magic?” you asked softly, already half asleep, most likely because of the lack of said magic.

    “Soon, love. That shit should be out of your system soon. Then I can show you all the wonders of Asgard,” he told you warmly.

    “I hate feeling like this,” you whined softly. The cat perked her ears up and you stroked her head, soothing her back to sleep. Overprotective familiar.

    “I hated seeing you like that more, my love. They-” he snarled, shaking with anger at the memory of your state and what they’d done to you. “I am going to kill those men for doing this to you,” he told you casually, too casually.

    You weren’t quite sure it was an idle threat.


	23. Chapter 23

    It was late afternoon when you woke again. You were still curled around your new familiar, using Loki as a pillow. He didn’t seem to mind. He was reading and absently stroking your hair. You sat up and shifted the sleeping cat-dragon to your lap, sitting cross-legged on the bed. Loki snapped his book shut. “How are you feeling?” he asked.

    “Much better,” you told him. You waved your hand and levitated the book from his lap, grinning that your magic was back. It wasn’t back up to full strength, but it was a relief that your power was back at all.

    “That’s a relief,” he sounded as though he meant it. He’d been worried.

    “How bad was it?” you asked him softly, petting the sleepy cat in your lap.

    Loki growled softly. “I should never have let you go on that trip alone,” he snarled.

    “Lokitty...” you said in the exasperated tone your voice took on when he was being more overprotective than was acceptable. “None of us knew that witch hunters would attack at a business conference. Hell’s fire, none of us knew that they were after me.”

    Loki’s eyes narrowed at those words. “That is too close to a lie, little sorceress,” he informed you, not quite coldly, not yet.

    You rolled your eyes. “The man who snuck in on Halloween was wearing the robes of a witch hunter. I didn’t really believe at the time he actually _was_ one because it was a costume party,” you explained quickly, before he could get angry, thinking you were hiding things. He nodded accepting your explanation.

    “It was bad, love, very bad. Based on the shape you were in, I believe they were planning on killing you,” he said softly, sadly, but you heard the hint of rage in his voice too. You set the cat-dragon on the bed and went to Loki, wrapping your arms around his neck, stroking his long hair.

    “I’m here, Lokitty. I’m here and I’m safe, thanks to you,” you told him softly, reassuringly. His arms wrapped around you and he held you tightly to him.

    “I can’t stand the thought of my life without you, my little sorceress, not now that I have finally found you,” he whispered into your hair. Sometimes you forgot that you’d only been on one official date, that you’d only been an official couple for less than a week. Loki’d been your best friend since he moved to the tower months and months ago and had been carefully courting you ever since he turned human again. It felt like you’d been in a relationship with him forever, though it was technically new.

    “I love you too,” you told him and kissed his forehead. You sat back, failing to notice that you were sitting, probably uncomfortably, on his legs. He didn’t seem to mind. “Is there any news from home?”

    He shook his head. “Thor told the team what we were up to before he followed us through the Bifrost. They agreed that the witch hunters can’t follow you here since we actually appreciate magicians here...” Loki grumbled, hating the witch hunters for wanting to hurt you because you happen to practice magic. “So they asked us to keep you here for at least a few days while they make sure the tower is safe for you to return to. Thor got Odin to agree, however grudgingly. I don’t know how he did it, though I think Mother got involved. The team promised to investigate the witch hunter issue while you’re here,”

    “I hate this. I should be there helping them,” you grumbled at him helplessly. There was no way he or Thor were letting you go home until the team had time to make sure you’d be safe. You loved your overprotective boys, despite that they were overprotective. You knew it meant that they cared and you couldn’t begrudge them for it.

    “I know, darling, but until we’re sure it’s safe, you will just have to suffer with being pampered like an Asgardian princess,” he teased.

    “I’m no princess,” you reminded him firmly. You were just a little witch from Midgard, nothing special about you.

    “To me you are,” he replied warmly and leaned forward to kiss you. “Now, if you will kindly get off of my legs, I can show you to your suite.” You flushed and scrambled off of his legs, scooping up Sera as you scrambled off the bed.

    “I get a suite?” you asked, surprised that you were getting a whole suite. Maybe a guest room somewhere...but not a suite.

    “Of course,” he laughed as he got off of the bed as well. He flushed a little. “I _should_ have taken you there to recover, but...”

    “You wanted to make sure I was ok,” you supplied, understanding. It was a perfectly normal reaction, especially with how badly the drugs had affected you. “So I take it this is your room?” you asked before he could get more embarrassed. He nodded and showed you properly around his bedroom and sitting room. Both were plush and comfortable, airy and had doors leading out onto the same balcony. His sitting room was unsurprisingly filled with books and scrolls.

    He hesitated, but gestured to a door in his sitting room. “Your suite is actually through here,” he said, embarrassed. You were confused as to why until you opened the door to find that it led to another sitting room, not a hallway. That’s why he was embarrassed. “The door locks and there’s another entrance off the main hall,” he added quickly.

    He didn’t seem inclined to explain, but you knew. It used to be common, after all. His Mother had set you up in what was properly his consort’s suite. “Your Mother’s idea?” you asked with a smirk, choosing to be amused instead of offended. He nodded, even more embarrassed. “It’s alright, Lokitty. I’m not offended. Mothers apparently are all the same. And highly resemble Grandmother Helene,” you added with a laugh. He chuckled, but still seemed a little embarrassed.

    “I don’t mean to presume-” he started.

    You waved his apology off. “Lokitty, it’s fine, I promise. I know you’re not going to push. Merlin’s beard, it took, like, six months of knowing you and being courted by you before you would ask me on a proper date. I’m quite sure you’re not going to push any boundaries just because there happens to be a door connecting our rooms,” you teased. He laughed then, finally seeming to relax at your open honesty.

    You stepped into the suite. The sitting room was just as plush and comfortable as Loki’s, decorated in a beautiful lilac instead of his preferred green. You noticed that it also led out onto his balcony. The decorations were also mostly bookshelves, the books on which you noted were in English, which was very considerate. The bedroom was equally gorgeous and comfortable. There was a bathing room as well. Sera finally woke while you were exploring and squirmed out of your arms so she could flutter around the suite with you.

    Loki watched you explore the suite from the connecting doorway with a warm smile. “It’s gorgeous,” you told him. You’d never stayed anywhere as nice.

    “I’m glad my lady approves,” he replied warmly. You stood up on your toes to kiss him.

    There was a polite knock on the door leading from your sitting room to the hallway. The door opened before you could reply, or stop kissing Loki. You dropped back to your feet and flushed as you turned to face the two maids who entered the room. They both had knowing smiles, though neither would comment on a simple kiss. “Your highness, lady,” they greeted you formally. “We were told to assist your lady in preparing for dinner, your highness,” one of them explained to Loki.

    “Of course, thank you ladies. Please let me know when you have finished, so I may escort my lady to dinner,” he told them politely, formally. He was obviously used to this life and the treatment of servants. They curtsied in reply, obviously used to the polite, usually reserved prince. Loki turned to you and kissed you, and the maids nearly swooned due to second hand romance. “Play nice with the maids,” he told you softly so they wouldn’t overhear. “I know you’re not used to maids, but things are different here, plus you deserve pampering my darling,”

    “I used to _be_ a maid,” you grumbled softly. You didn’t deserve maids or pampering and could handle dressing yourself. He gave you a look. You sighed. “Fine,” you told him. It wasn’t your culture, so you gave in... for now. He smiled, lifted your hand and bowed over it to kiss your knuckles, purely for the benefit of the hopeless romantics that were the maids.

    “I will see you in a little while to escort you to dinner, my love,” he bid you warmly and stepped through the connecting door, closing it behind him and leaving you alone with the maids. Sera fluttered to safety when they led you to the bath and hid on your bed before they could decide that _she_ needed a bath too. She wouldn’t hear of that nonsense.

    The maids were very efficient and chattery as birds while they did your hair and helped you get ready. So you heard all about how working for Loki was actually one of the most desired positions in the palace, right under working for Frigga. He was so polite and kind to everyone. You made extra sure to praise their work when they were done and while they were working. You saw their actual genuine smiles at your courtesy as well.

    You very nearly didn’t recognize yourself in the soft lilac Asgardian style gown and your hair up in a gorgeous braided updo. Your only jewelry were your wand hiding as a its usual bracelet on your wrist and the necklace Loki had given you. The maids had tried to suggest something fancier than the very simple pendant, but relented when you told them that Loki had gifted it to you, because of course you’d want to wear his token. And you weren’t removing your wand. They relented on that when you told them it was a magical item that had to stay.

    When they were done with you, Sera fluttered over and settled on your shoulder, perching there as if she had always been with you, as if that were her usual spot. You reached up absently to scratch behind her ears and she purred the tinkling musical purr which was hers alone.

    Loki was waiting for you in your sitting room when you stepped out of the bedroom, dressed and ready, he was dressed as well in black and green formal Asgardian garb, not his armor. He came over and kissed you lightly, leaning down to do so, though you met him halfway, standing up on your toes in the soft indoor slippers. “You look lovely tonight, my darling,” he told you warmly. “Asgardian fashion suits you,”

    “You clean up nicely as well,” you teased lightly. He smiled and kissed you again.

    “Shall we?” he asked and offered you his arm. You placed your hand lightly on his arm and let him lead the way from your suite to dinner while wondering what you had gotten yourself into.


	24. Chapter 24

    “This is the family wing,” Loki explained as he led you down the hallway. Your hand was on his right arm. He was taking the position to the inside of the corridor, the more ‘vulnerable’ position as if there were an attack, or someone not paying attention to where they were walking, he would be between you and danger. Silly overprotective Lokitty... “Odin and Mother have suites and workrooms and such a floor up. Thor lives down the hall,” he gestured back the way you’d come. There were plenty of empty rooms, probably in expectation of a larger family.

    Loki pointed out more landmarks of interest as he led you through the wide, airy, beautiful halls of the palace. You strolled leisurely, not in any apparent rush to reach your destination. For all the world, Loki acted a polite, maybe a little reserved, courtier.

    “I still can’t believe you grew up _here_ ,” you commented at the literal palace you were walking through. You knew you didn’t belong here. You could make yourself comfortable in almost any facet of human/witch society back home, but this was completely different. Loki was just so comfortable and comforting. He didn’t seem...different, per se, this just wasn’t a side of your Lokitty you saw often on Earth.

    He chuckled. “I _did_ grow up a prince, darling,” he reminded you gently, kindly. He was amused by your awe at the palace, though had obviously been expecting it and was preening over showing off his culture and home to you. You couldn’t help wondering, though, why he was interested in you when he was a _prince_. A prince of an alien world no less. You were just a little witch from Midgard...

    You also noticed the blatant stares of the palace stares, nobles, basically anyone and everyone you passed. They all stopped to stare at the pair of you. “Why are they staring?” you asked Loki softly enough that they couldn’t overhear. You couldn’t tell if it was because you were Midgardian, or if it was because of Sera.

    “Because you are a beautiful lady,” he replied warmly, the words gliding off his silver tongue. You gave him a look. That wasn’t true. He gave you a warm smile. “They are unused to the sight of a gorgeous woman on _my_ arm. My idiot brother on the other hand...” he grinned and you couldn’t help smiling. Thor liked women and probably would have sought your attention if you were even slightly more his type.

    “Surely the sight couldn’t be _that_ uncommon,” you teased, back to normal friendly territory. Light teasing was safe. Loki was over a thousand after all, there was no way that _some_ lady hadn’t caught his attention in all of those years. You’d had your share of relationships over your 500 years, they hadn’t gone well, but that was a different problem.

    He scoffed. “Most of the court ladies have feathers for brains and I’ve met rocks with more personality. Plus it is hard to remain interested in their flirtations when I can hear-” he tapped his forehead to indicate telepathically. You knew he didn’t pry with his telepathic abilities, but he could overhear things even when he wasn’t trying. “-that they are only interested because of my station, or believe me to be a poor substitute for my brother, or don’t understand and fear my magic,” he explained. “You, my darling, loved me when I was nothing more than a cat, a friend, a teammate, and finally your suitor. It is refreshing to be the pursuer instead of the pursued for once and even more refreshing that you have never once wanted me for my station, wanted my brother over me, or feared my power,” he added warmly and kissed your cheek,

    “You’ve been my dearest friend since we met, Lokitty. I never wanted that to go away, just become...more,” you reminded him just as warmly. You flushed then and realized that you probably shouldn’t call him ‘Lokitty’ here. He did have appearances to maintain after all.

    “That is all I desire as well, dearest,” his voice was a warm purr. His smile changed to a mischievous smirk. “You said you were uncomfortable with having maids because you used to be one?” he asked. He was genuinely curious, but also teasing a little, probably your discomfort with the maids in general.

    You rolled your eyes. “Not everyone grew up in a palace,” you reminded him sourly, hoping he wasn’t looking down on your for your background. Though you saw from his expression that he wasn’t. “Mom was a hearth witch, a garden witch without a lot of power,” you reminded him. He nodded, remembering that you’d said you were much more powerful than she was. “I started outstripping what she could teach me about magic by the time I was five and that was much too young for me to start attending the magic school. As you well know, magic needs to be taught and used or it goes wrong.” That was answered with another inclination of his head. “We didn’t have the money for tutors, but one of the Grandmother witches agreed was rich and powerful. She agreed to teach me if mom and I helped her with the chores she couldn’t do anymore. She let me keep the position through school. She paid decently and knew _everything_... I learned a lot more than just magic from her. Mom hated that I worked through school, but hearth witches aren’t in high demand and she didn’t make a lot of money...”

    Loki stiffened a little at your defensive tone. “I didn’t mean to insult, I was simply curious about your life,” he explained.

    “Sorry, I know. People just used to make fun of me for my secondhand books and robes. They were jealous that I was nearly the strongest in the class, since I didn’t come from a super powerful family, and I got top marks.... They didn’t care that I worked my ass off for those grades. They also seemed to have forgotten all about that since we graduated. I’ve been one of the most desired witches for my skills since then and have lived and worked in all facets of society from helping the poor to being a court lady... I didn’t really find anything I wanted to settle down to doing until I joined the Avengers,” He looked impressed at that part of your explanation, and was pleased at the glimpse into your past.

    “Children can be cruel no matter the realm,” Loki’s voice was consoling. “Thor was always the favorite as physical strength is prided here...” It seemed he did understand. You reached a pair of double doors. “Ready, darling?” he asked. You didn’t know what was waiting for you, but you nodded. You would face whatever challenge arrived. Loki shifted so he was holding your hand, your joined hands lifted in an older escort style than you were used to, but you recognized it for what it was. He nodded to the doormen and they opened the double doors. He led you past the long dining tables to the stares of the court seated there. He looked straight ahead, not allowing himself to get distracted by the open stares, nor did he look at all like he noticed or cared about the attention.

    He stopped in front of the head table where Odin, Frigga, and Thor were seated. “Allfather, Mother, may I present Lady Y/N, sorceress from Midgard, member of the team Thor and I work with to defend Midgard from threats, and the woman who has graciously allowed me the honor of courting her,”

    You knew your cue and dipped a low, elegant, graceful curtsy. You were very well practiced over your 500 years in the art of the curtsy. Sera balanced herself on your shoulder effortlessly. Loki didn’t drop your hand while you did, just lowered his to accommodate. “Your majesties,” your words were simple and polite, and thankfully all you needed to say at this juncture.

    “Welcome to Asgard, dear,” Frigga greeted you warmly, kindly, gently. Loki had been correct that she wasn’t going to hold the state you had been in when you arrived against you. Loki lifted your hand, a silent indication that you should rise. You did just as gracefully and Loki led you to your place at the table, he was next to Frigga and your place was next to his. Servants pulled your chairs out for you and seated you. It was something you hadn’t experienced in years and you had to pretend that it wasn’t weird. “Is this the creature from the egg?” Frigga asked you when Sera crawled to your other shoulder for a better vantage point.

    “Yes, your majesty, this is Seraphina. Her true form is a dragon,” you added and lifted the cat off of your shoulder to show Frigga properly. Frigga questioned you on the little cat-dragon, and about magic on Midgard. She wanted to hear all about Loki’s adventures there and get to know the woman he spoke so highly of. She was so open and kind that you couldn’t help liking her and it stopped being important soon that she was the queen. She was just Loki’s mom and she seemed to absolutely adore you. It warmed your heart that she did and you saw Loki’s relief as well. “Loki has done quite a lot of work with me teaching at the magic academy,” you told Frigga. That was a safe story to tell and one that would befit his standing as a master magician here. Frigga was interested in the magic school and you and Loki could both tell her about it.

    “Your Asgardian is quite good, dear,” Frigga told you, questioning your ability. Loki raised an eyebrow. He was so used to using Allspeak on Earth that he forgot you could actually speak his native tongue. Most times it didn’t even register with them when you switched over. The record without them noticing was two hours, and they only did then because Tony grumbled that he couldn’t understand what you were talking about and it wasn’t fair.

    You gave her a smile. “I learned it as a child, studying other magical cultures was part of our education and since the Asgardians had visited Midgard previously, I felt it would be best to start with your language,” you’d learned a _lot_ of languages over the years. You had fun annoying the others by speaking Russian with Nat, or Asgardian with the boys. Nearly everyone signed because of Clint, so that wasn’t as much fun. “You’re quite kind. Thor has reminded me that my accent is atrocious,”

    No one questioned how much Sera ate and you wondered just how much bigger the dragon was going to get. You had a feeling whatever that magician had done was what had made her grow as fast as she had already.

    After the meal, you had to put up with being shown off by Loki and Thor. Thor introduced you to Lady Sif and The Warrior’s Three. “Thor’s stupid warrior friends,” Loki whispered in your ear. You grinned.

    “You best be saying nice things about us, Loki,” the taller blond one warned as he bowed over your hand to kiss it. “I may just have to woo your lady away if you cannot play nice,”

    You rolled your eyes. “Good luck with that, flirt,” you replied, teasing. He gave you an overly elegant bow while Thor and the others boomed their laughter.

    “This one ought to keep you on your toes,” he teased Loki. You leaned up and kissed Loki’s cheek.

    “That she does,” Loki replied warmly and kissed you, claiming you in front of Thor’s stupid warrior friends.

    “So why are you two back on Asgard? The Queen said this was a surprise visit,” Sif asked, concerned as to what trouble brought you here.

    “There was trouble on Midgard,” Thor finally explained. “There is a group of...”

    “Evil men who hunt and kill sorcerers,” you supplied when Thor couldn’t come up with a translation of the concept of witch hunters. Sif and the warriors all looked shocked and horrified by that.

    “But magicians are treasured,” Sif protested, still horrified.

    “They are,” Loki agreed and kissed the top of your head, reassuring. “These men are evil and posed a very real threat to my lady. We brought her here for safety and to recover from their attack,”

    “We will take care of the menace upon our return. Our priority was getting Lady Y/N to safety. Our teammates are questioning one of the attackers and should have more information for us upon our return,” Thor added the explanation. They all got distracted talking about battles and fighting and things that happened on Asgard since Thor had been gone.

    Loki wrapped an arm around your shoulders and escaped with you from the hall before the warriors noticed. He gave you a tour of the rest of the palace and finally led you out to the gardens. Sera leapt off of your shoulder when you were outside. You grinned up at her. “Go fly, Sera. I’m sure you want to stretch your other wings. Just don’t go to far,” she made a musical sound in reply and shifted forms as she flew higher. A sleek black dragon who was somehow now about the size of Toothless from the How to Train Your Dragon movies. You were still shocked at how fast she grew, but realized at the same time that you wouldn’t have to treat her like a child, which she was never meant to be, but as a cherished best friend, which is what the familiars were. She flew around the gardens trilling in delight while you and Loki strolled leisurely. She also didn’t give you away when you and Loki found a quiet alcove for stolen kisses.


	25. Chapter 25

    The hour was late when you finally decided to leave the gardens. /Sera, we’re heading inside. I’ll leave the balcony doors open if you want to stay outside and play longer/ you mind-called to the dragon as you and Loki slipped out of your alcove and back onto the path. The dragon was flying in loops high above the palace and way to high to hear your physical voice, but she could hear you telepathically.

    She swooped down and landed gracefully in front of you. “Come fly with me? Just for a minute!” she nearly begged. You hesitated. Your broom was and home and the spare you had started keeping within easy summons after the explosion incident had been your moms and was tempermental.

    “I don’t have wings, Sera,” you finally told her.

    She rolled her eyes and huffed. “I’ll carry you silly. Please come. It’ll be such fun,”

    “Fine, fine,” you told her goodnaturedly. You looked over to Loki, it was rude to just abandon him, even for a minute. “You don’t mind-?” He shook his head and gestured to the dragon, looking amused.

    “Go right ahead. I shall wait for you with my feet firmly on the ground,” he told you with a smile. He didn’t think this was going to end well. He wasn’t worried over your safety, though, which was good. You glanced around to make sure no one besides Loki was watching, but you and Loki were alone in the gardens. You hiked up your skirts to your thighs, which was the reason you had looked for watchers, and swung onto Sera’s back. There was a perfect spot for you just in front of her wing joints. You settled in, got your balance, and even managed to find a handhold. You felt her muscles bunch under you as she leapt into the air. You laughed and shrieked in joy and delight at the rush of wind through your hair, the exhilaration of flying _that_ fast. She dove and swooped and sped through the air faster than any broom you’d ever ridden. She did a couple of circuits of the gardens before she landed next to Loki gracefully and gently.

    “That was amazing, Sera,” you told her and she trilled happily. You swung your leg over to dismount. Loki was there in an instant, reaching up to help you down. You placed your hands on his shoulders when his hands touched your waist and he lifted you down easily from Sera’s back. “That is _way_ better than a broom,” you informed him as he set you gently on your feet. He did not look at all liked he agreed with you. He liked keeping his feet firmly on the ground. You carefully straightened out your skirts so they were presentable again. Hitching them up to ride a dragon wasn’t exactly ladylike, but you didn’t want to spend magic changing clothes right now. He looked away while you did and you had a feeling based on his flush that he had seen more skin than he had been anticipating. Oops.

    Sera shifted back to her cat-dragon form and fluttered sleepily into your arms. You held her cradled safely to your chest. She was much too tired after playing so much to perch on your shoulder. Loki’s arm draped around your shoulders while you hid a yawn behind your familiar. “I shouldn’t be this tired. I slept all day,” you whined at him as he led you back inside. You rested your head on his shoulder as you walked.

    “Darling, you know perfectly well that you spent all day _healing_ and recovering your magic. It’s no wonder that you’re tired. I shouldn’t have kept you out this late. I just wished for you to see my home,” he admitted softly, warmly, proudly.

    “It was fun, Lokitty,” you replied warmly.

    He smiled and kissed your forehead. “That may be, dearest, but you’re dead on your feet. I best get you to bed while you can still walk there,” he added with a smirk. You looked up and stuck your tongue out at him. He chuckled in reply.

    It didn’t take long to reach Loki’s suite. He left you at the doorway to check the rooms for intruders before he’d let you come inside, he checked all of the rooms in your connected suite as well. You were used to the behavior after Halloween and didn’t question or argue with him over it. It was adorably overprotective and didn’t hurt anything, so you didn’t begrudge him the peace of mind. He walked you as far as your sittingroom. “I’m sure you can find your bed from here, little sorceress,” he teased.

    “I’m not _that_ tired,” you protested, but had to hide another yawn behind your cat.

    “Sure you aren’t, darling,” he replied warmly. He bent to kiss you and you stood up on your toes to meet him half way. He gave you a mischievous smirk when he broke the kiss and you saw that his cat-ears were back in place, temporarily. You knew he wouldn’t risk others on Asgard seeing them. You grinned and reached up to scratch behind one. It was still stupid that you had missed them. They weren’t part of his natural form. They were just so fucking adorable. “Get some sleep, my love,” he bid you warmly.

    “Goodnight, Lokitty,” you replied. He stepped back into his own suite and made a show of firmly closing the connecting door behind him. He wanted to make sure you felt comfortable and safe. Thoughtful fluffy god. You made sure the door to the hallway was locked and made your way to your bedroom. You saw that your bed was turned down and a nightgown laid out for you. You suspected the maids. You set Sera on the bed, where she curled up sleepily on the pillow you laid out for her. You were in bed a minute later and asleep nearly as soon as your head hit the pillow.

    *

     _Sunday was the day for dinner at mom’s. It was a weekly appointment. You were running late that week since you had made the terrible decision of breaking up with your latest suitor that day. The relationship had needed to end. There hadn’t been anything truly wrong with the man, but he just seemed more interested in your power than you. So you ended it before it got too far. It still broke your heart to do, and was causing you to be late for dinner. You should have picked another day, but you wanted to hug your mommy after the deed had been done and get comfort from her and commiserate about how stupid males were._

     _On later contemplation, the fact that you were late that day had saved your life._

     _Or maybe you would have been able to save her._

     _You’d never know for sure._

     _You flew in on your broom, the pie you had made to contribute to dinner balanced in your lap and your familiar perched on your shoulder. You smelled the fire as soon as you landed. Kaci leapt off your shoulder and ran toward your mom’s cottage. But that wasn’t where the fire was coming from. Kaci ran back from the cottage, meowing for help. You dropped the pie and it splattered on the ground as you ran around behind the cottage, following the smell of the fire, the sound of the screams._

     _The screams._

     _You couldn’t describe the heartbreak and terror of hearing the wails of agony that came from a voice you_ never _wanted to hear in pain. Your mom was the one making that awful heartbreaking sound._

     _You ran faster._

     _You had to get to her._

     _Had to save her._

     _Had to help._

     _You skidded to a halt when you saw the scene in your mom’s little garden. As her screams stopped. The scene was so horrific you couldn’t comprehend it at first. There was a pile of wood on fire, a long pole sticking up from the middle of it. Your mom always chopped wood for the winter, but didn’t leave it in the middle of her garden..._

     _Then your brain noticed the men in the black robes, chanting around the flames as they drew it higher, hotter. “Consume it all. There can be no evidence left of this black witch,” one of the men said._

     _Witch Hunters._

     _They were only supposed to hunt corrupted witches and wizards, those who were a menace to society. They were supposed to bring them before the witches’ council to stand trial for their misdeeds._

     _They weren’t supposed to burn innocent little hearth witches at the stake._

     _Your mom’s ghost appeared in front of you, stopping you before you could charge forward to save her. She was already gone. She kissed your forehead, obviously relieved that you were safe. “I will hold them off as long as I can. Run, Daughter. Run, now! Straight to the headmistress. RUN!” she ordered, urgently, firmly, in that tone all mothers acquired. The one that insisted on immediate obedience._

     _The men turned, finally seeing you. “Catch her! She’s the spawn of the black witch!”_

     _“Kaci!” you yelled for your little cat, but your familiar howled for you to run. She would stand with your mother’s ghost to hold the men off while you made your escape. The witch hunters had power and they were strong. You couldn’t fight them off. It shamed you to this day that you obeyed your mom and Kaci, that you turned and ran, that you escaped instead of fighting._

     _That you let your familiar die instead of staying to fight with her._

     _That you let her sacrifice herself for you._

    “Wake up, love. Please, wake up!” Loki’s voice broke through the nightmare. His tone was urgent, desperate. “Wake up, Y/N. It’s a nightmare. You’re safe,” he promised you helplessly. You bolted awake, panting, panicking. Loki was holding you in his arms. You clutched onto him and sobbed into his chest. He stroked your hair, running his fingers through the tangle your hair had become, thrashing around lost to nightmares. You should have expected this nightmare after facing the witch hunters.“Shh, love, shh, it’s alright. You’re safe. It was just a nightmare. It can’t hurt you anymore,” his words were soft and gentle, calming in his honeyed accented voice. His cool touch was such a contrast to the fire that you could finally relax, could finally slow your tears.

    “I saw- I - I saw-” you nearly started weeping again.

    Loki kissed your forehead softly. “I know, dearest. You don’t have to try to tell me. I saw,” you looked up at him confused, tears still in your eyes. He didn’t pry with his telepathy and you had good shielding around your mind. He shouldn’t have been _able_ to pry, at least not without you knowing about it. He kissed your forehead again. “You were projecting. That’s what woke me. Don’t fear. I shielded the rest of the palace.” At least no one else would have seen your nightmare.

    “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have-” you shouldn’t have lost control. Shouldn’t have projected your nightmares on others.

    “Shh, it’s alright,” he reassured you, pulling you back more firmly into the safety of his arms. Sera was curled in your lap, squashed like a very well loved plushie. “I’m sorry you lost your mom and your familiar like that, but they were right, love. The first rule of combat is to survive. Sometimes the only way to do that is to run, to live to fight another day. Those men would have killed you too had you not run. You were severely outnumbered. You did the right thing, my darling,” he reassured you again. He held you for awhile longer, stroking your hair, kissing your forehead, reassuring you with his cool presence that you were safe from the fire, from those men. “You should go back to sleep, dearest,” he told you softly when you were finally calm again.

    “I can’t-” you told him softly, shuddering. You couldn’t face that nightmare again tonight.

    He smiled warmly and kissed you lightly. “It was a nightmare, love. A dream, nothing more. It cannot harm you anymore. No nightmares can harm you so long as I am here. I swear it, my darling. I love you dearest; I will keep you safe,” he promised. He tucked you safely back in his arms and pulled the blanket up around you. He held you, safely, stroking your hair, while your exhausted mind and body succumbed to his cool presence; his promise of safety, even from nightmares.

    “Loki,” you murmured softly, your voice a loving whisper before you fell asleep, safe in his arms, listening to his chest rumble as he purred for you.


	26. Chapter 26

    You were still curled safely in your Lokitty’s arms when you woke again. He was purring softly, the half-purr that he usually only had when he was asleep. You smiled and thought about how you could very much get used to waking like this. “It is a most pleasant way to wake indeed,” Loki’s voice was husky with sleep when he spoke. He kissed your forehead and then kissed you lightly when you tilted your head up to look at him. “Put your shields back up, little sorceress,” he answered your unasked question of how he’d heard your thoughts. The nightmares had stripped your shielding away, which is how you’d been projecting your nightmare in the first place. The shielding kept your mind safe from intruders, and outsiders safe from your thoughts.

    “Sorry...” you murmured and concentrated for a moment to settle the shielding back in place.

    “I don’t mind, but there are others here who can hear thoughts as well. I do not trust them not to meddle, thinking a Midgardian an easy target,”

    “You still should have told me so you didn’t have to deal with me projecting all night,” you reminded him as you sat up and absently started petting Sera, who curled happily in your lap.

    “Darling, you were distraught enough last night without me bringing up your shielding. I was perfectly capable of protecting us both until you were feeling better. And don’t you dare apologize for having a nightmare,” he added quickly before you could do just that.

    “Bossy cat,” you grumbled good naturedly at him. He laughed in reply and gave you a Cheshire cat grin.

    “Hungry cat,” he corrected and stood from the bed. “Breakfast will be starting soon. Don’t worry, it’s less formal than dinner,” he added quickly at your discouraged look. You weren’t sure you were cut out for Asgardian court life. Loki insisted you were doing fine and making a good impression, but you didn’t believe him. He was a known liar after all.

    Loki offered you a hand and pulled you to your feet. “You must be hungry,” you teased as his magic shimmered over the pair of you so he was dressed in a green tunic and black pants (and sadly missing his adorable cat-ears again) and you were in a more casual, but still gorgeous floor length Asgardian gown. You smirked at him. “Very hungry cat,” you added dryly.

    He grinned. “That, and I am happy to be home, however briefly,” he reminded you warmly.

    “Right... Odin _did_ send you to Midgard,” you remembered it wasn’t a volunteer mission like Thor’s trips. Which is why Loki had been a cat for months and refused to turn back. Earth wasn’t his home, no matter how much he seemed to like it there now.

    “I don’t mind anymore,” he reassured you quickly “but it is nice to visit home,”

    Breakfast _was_ a much smaller affair than dinner. You sat at a big table with Thor and his warrior friends and they spent the meal telling stories of glorious battles as they devoured a entire table full of food. The others besides Thor and Loki kept trying to insist you needed to eat more. You, Thor, and Loki all had to convince them that Midgarians were not bottomless pits. It took convincing that you weren’t just being polite and shy.

    “So Loki, how old is your lovely mortal?” Fandral asked in Asgardian instead of Allspeak.

    “It is rude to inquire of a lady’s age, Fandral,” you replied in kind, teasing Thor’s silly warrior friend. You laughed at his shock that you understood their language, even though you’d been speaking it mostly exclusively since you’d been here. They weren’t expecting you to be able to and kept using Allspeak to try to make you feel included. It was thoughtful, though unnecessary. “However, I am not mortal, not in the sense you are referring, and I am 500 years old,” your Asgardian was a little formal, since you learned it for court setting, but Thor’s friends didn’t complain. Fandral just continued to stare. You turned to look at Loki. “I know my accent is atrocious, but did I say it wrong?” you asked, concerned that you weren’t as fluent as you thought you were.

    Loki laughed and shook his head while Fandral spluttered “500? But Midgardians only live to 100,”

    “Yes, Fandral, my lady is 500 years, still a young lady,” he told Fandral with a mischievous smirk and leaned over to kiss your cheek. “And your accent is fine, darling,” he told you warmly.

    “That’s sweet of you to say, but Thor is quite insistent that it’s awful, and _you_ are a flatterer and a known liar,” you teased him.

    He inclined his head. “That may be, however, my brother is an idiot,” Loki reminded you with a grin at Thor. “He’s just grumpy that his accent is the one of the warriors and yours is of the court like mine,” he explained and your confused expression. That made sense, he would be grumbly that you sounded more royal than a prince of Asgard did.

    Fandral finally stopped looking shocked and looked intrigued instead, and like he was interested in stealing you away from Loki. Like that was going to happen. Hopefully he wasn’t stupid enough to make the attempt. Loki might kill him for the insult.

    Everyone at the table started to rise when the Queen walked into the room. She gestured at you all to remain in your seats. Loki stood anyway to offer her his place. Adorable Mama’s boy. She kissed his cheek. “Thank you darling, but I can’t stay. I’m actually on my way out to Asa Village. A rash of pox has popped up there. I will return by dinner, and I’m taking assistants and guards. Don’t fret, dear,” she bid Loki warmly. He was obviously preparing to fret over her safety. “Boys, your father wishes to see you after breakfast. He has business for you both while you’re home,” Frigga told both Loki and Thor. They both inclined their heads. Her messages delivered, she went around the table. Each of the warrior boys stood and kissed her hand and she kissed their cheeks in reply. She and Sif kissed each other’s cheeks. You had a feeling she had adopted Thor’s friends as her children too, based on her interactions with them. Thor hugged her warmly and kissed her cheek, not the least bit embarrassed to be kissing his mother’s cheek in front of all of his big strong warrior friends. You stood and dipped a curtsy when she reached you. There was no way in the seven layers of hell that you had already been adopted as one of her children. You’d met her yesterday. “No need for all of that,” she told you warmly. You rose from the curtsy shyly. You didn’t know how to deal with this gently formidable woman. You were shocked when she kissed your cheek as well. Maybe she just adopted everyone who wandered into her life. “Thank you for making my Loki so happy, darling,” her voice was warm and kind, but soft enough that the others couldn’t overhear. She turned to Thor’s warrior friends before you could reply. “Children, would you keep Y/N company while Loki is busy today?” she asked them. They were quick to agree. She said goodbye to her sons and headed off to her healing trip.

    Fandral started to step toward you, but Sif wrapped her arm around your shoulders before he could. “Want to see the practice yards?” she asked you kindly, but glared at Fandral, as if aware of what he was up to. “Some of the court ladies and the shield maidens should be practicing at this time of the morning,”

    “Sounds like fun,” you replied with a smile.

    She grinned. “Good, say goodbye to lover-boy. He’s got work to do, and we can see if you have any skill with a blade,” she teased and removed her arm from your shoulders. You turned back to Loki.

    “Darling, are you sure you’ll be alright?” he asked in English, concerned that he was leaving you alone. The others could understand, of course, but they would pretend the conversation was private since the change of language was a request for privacy.

    “Lokitty, I’ll be fine. Sif will keep me company while you’re busy. Even if she couldn’t, I would be ok. Besides, I have a dragon hanging out with me. You know her overprotective ass won’t let anything happen to me,” you teased him. He chuckled and gave you a soft kiss.

    “Very well, but call me if you need me,” he told you softly. You knew he meant either telepathically or through the magic pendant he’d given you.

    You thought for a moment, but hadn’t had a chance to prepare anything. So you steeled yourself and slipped the ring off the ring finger of your right hand and pressed it into his hand with a small charm on it. “Hold onto this for me?” you asked him softly. He raised an eyebrow. “In case I need to find you quickly?” He smiled warmly then, realizing what you were up to. You could find the item that was yours, the piece of your magic you’d placed on it and teleport directly to where it was.

    “Of course, darling.” The ring was obviously much too small for him, but he summoned a necklace-chain to slip the ring onto, clasped it quickly around his neck, and tucked the ring under his tunic. He’d wear it to make you both feel safer.

    “Please take care of it, it was mom’s,” you bid him. You would have... _possibly_...given him something else, but it was the best thing you had on short notice.

    “I promise,” he told you warmly and leaned down to kiss you. And kept kissing you until Thor huffed and grabbed his arm to drag him one way. Sif grabbed yours to drag you the other. You were both laughing when they broke you up.

    *

    Sif gave you a tour of the practice yards, while Fandral tried to follow along and make a nuisance of himself, but was politely denied entrance to the maidens’ practice court. “You can borrow a set of practice armor if you want to join us,” Sif suggested.

    You looked over her outfit of armor. “Is that what you typically wear?” you asked, gesturing to her. She nodded, looking at you suspiciously. You kept your eyes on her and used magic to change your dress to armor identical to hers but in the green of your Earthen battle costume instead of her red. “Look ok?” you asked her. She nodded with a bright smile.

    “Let’s see what you can do with a blade, sorceress,” she teased. You worked out with her for awhile. You weren’t the _best_ at fighting physically, but you could hold your own and she seemed impressed.

    You spent the morning with Sif and the other maidens until guards ran up to Sif. “Lady Sif, there has been an attack on Asa Village. Your presence is required,” one of them told her. She nodded and the guards went on their way to gather whoever else they needed.

    Asa Village

    Asa-

    The Queen! You looked at Sif. “You’re riding out there, right?” you asked her quickly. She nodded as she rushed to the armory to grab her weapons. “I’ll go get Loki and Thor if I can find him. We’ll meet you at the stables,” you told her quickly.

    “You know where they are?” she demanded.

    “I know where Loki is,” you told her. She nodded.

    “Hurry!”

    You nodded and vanished, following the pull of your mother’s ring. You appeared inside of a council room, facing Odin, Thor, and Loki. They all looked up when you materialized in front of them. “What is this-?” Odin started to demand.

    You bowed, right fist over your heart as the warriors did. “I apologize for interrupting,” you told him calmly. “There has been an attack on Asa Village-” They all gasped and looked horrified. They all started to run from the room. You grabbed Loki’s arm then Thor’s as he tried to run past you. They both looked at you, glaring.

    “Where are the stables?” you demanded. Loki realized what you were asking faster than Thor.

    “Brother, take the Allfather’s arm,” Loki told him firmly while he ‘knocked’ on your mind’s shield. You let him past your outer shields so he could give you the image of the location. Once Thor was touching Odin, you teleported all of you to the stables, grateful your magic was back in full. Odin was in the saddle of an eight-legged horse in an instant.

    “Thor, Loki, gather the others, follow with the troops as soon as they are assembled,” Odin ordered. He galloped off without another word.

    Loki started to protest, heartbroken at being held behind. Thor clapped him on the shoulder. He was worried about Frigga too, but he would do his duty. Loki loved Frigga more than anything and being forced to stay behind was killing him. But you were under no such restrictions. You turned to him. “Give me something of Frigga’s,” you told him gently, but urgently.

    “But I- we-”

    “You’ll catch up. I can beat even an eight legged horse to the village,” you reminded him. He just stared at you hurt and confused. You lifted Sera off your shoulder. Thor opened his mouth to protest until you glared at him. “Time to shift, Sera. We have work to do,” you told her. She nodded and on unspoken agreement, you tossed her into the sky, giving her a boost to where she’d have room to shift. She shifted to her full dragon form as she soared upwards. You turned to Loki. “Trust me, Loki. I _will_ find her,” you bid him.

    “You shouldn’t even be coming- You’re a guest and we brought you here to keep you safe-” he started to protest. Thor started to agree. You glared at them both.

    “You brought me here to keep me safe from witch hunters. Like I would stay behind when people need me, when _you_ need me. Trust me, Loki. I’ll find her and I’ll keep her safe.” He hesitated, looking so scared, but summoned a hairbrush and handed it to you.

    “I will be right behind you,” he told you, still heartbroken that he couldn’t just go now.

    “I know. I’ll find her and keep her safe until you get there. I swear it.” You kissed him and saw the grateful look in his eyes when you broke the kiss. You summoned a glaive and strapped it to your back. If you were going alone into battle, you weren’t going to rely solely on magic. Sera swooped down and you swung onto her back, using the saddle that had somehow appeared there. You didn’t question it at the moment.

    “Y/N-” Loki’s eyes were haunted and heartbroken. Even he was tongue-tied by hurt and sorrow and a stupidly strong desire to break the rules, but even _he_ could only disobey Odin to a certain extent and no more, especially with Thor here. Thor didn’t want to let you go either, but wouldn’t stop you, not with his mother’s safety on the line. He had fought alongside you more than Loki and knew your skills. He trusted you abilities.

    “I’ll find her, Loki,” you reminded him firmly, though nodded to Thor too. “I swear it. I _will_ find her and I _will_ keep her safe,” you turned your attention to Sera. Loki was too haunted and scared to even tell you to be careful. You didn’t blame him in the least. “Fly, Seraphina. Show me the meaning of haste.” She ran a few steps while you settled and held onto her tightly. Her wings pumped and you were in the air. You worked a quick locator spell using Frigga’s hairbrush and sped toward the village as fast as Sera could fly.


	27. Chapter 27

    Barrelling through the air as fast as a dragon could fly was definitely an experience. It would have been exilerating had the situation not been dire, had Loki not been terrified for his mother, had people not been in dager. Sera felt your worry and sped even faster. You gave her directions based on the pull of the locator spell. It felt like you flew forever and for no time at all. She flew low so you could hop off her back in the middle of the village and swept back up to the air to keep watch above you. You needed to finetune the locator spell and needed to be on the ground to get a better lock on Frigga’s location.

    You ran through the village, darting through the battles still raging. You had only one task: find Frigga. You would help with the battle once the queen was safe, once Loki’s mother was accounted for. You finally tracked her to a large building toward the edge of the village. Sera shrank back down to cat-dragon form and settled on your shoulder to help however she could. You burst inside and took in the horrible scene in front of you.

    At the far side of the building was a huddle of small terrified children, the eldest of whom were bravely holding weapons. Of course Frigga was here to protect the children. Your brain finally registered what it hadn’t wanted to: the scent of blood, the shapes lying on the ground, one with a golden dress and equally golden hair. Frigga.

    Someone else entered the building and ran to her. “Frigga, no!” Odin shouted as he knelt beside her.

    You ran to her and skidded to your knees beside her. She was laying on her back, looking up at her husband with glazing eyes. There was a huge gash across her stomach, she’d been cut nearly in half. It was amazing she was still alive. You saw her attacker in two pieces nearby. She’d been injured defending the children.

    “Why? You fool, you should have-” Odin was telling her, weeping over her death, though she wasn’t lost yet.

    You weren’t going to let her be lost.

    You moved to Frigga’s other side, ignoring Odin completely. He would just be in the way, grieving husbands always were. You touched Frigga’s cheek. “Stay with me,” you bid her softly. She gave you a warm smile.

    “Love my Loki for me,”

    You dumped power into her, strengthening her, holding her self to her battered body, much as Loki had done for you. “Now is _not_ the time for you to go to Valhala,” you told her firmly as you used more healing magic, though healing wasn’t your speciality. You could do it and do it well, though years of hard work and practice. “It is going to hurt and be hard for both of us, but I can and will heal you,” you told her firmly. She nodded, accepting the work and effort to stay here with her family. Good.

    Odin glared at you. “You are Midgardian, what can you possibly do?” he demanded.

    “Save your wife’s life,” you told him firmly and started summoning supplies to do just that. He started to protest. You glared at him. Right now he wasn’t a king. He was an idiot male, an idiot husband standing in the way of your work. Those you knew how to deal with. “What have you to lose? I am the _only_ one here with a chance to save her. So let me do my job,” you growled.

    You didn’t wait for his reply, you got back to your task. It would take all of your magic, too many potions, and all of your skills for this healing. You even had to get out the emergencies only potion and would have used two vials of it had you had another.

    You don’t know how long you worked, how long you and Frigga both fought for the healing to take. You lost track of how much power you were using. You completely ignored Odin and the children in the room.

    Finally, finally, it was done.

    At least as done as you could make it right now. The wounds were closed and she was out of the woods. You let go of her mind, letting her fall into sleep or unconsciouness. You looked up at Odin, finally remembering that he was there. “She’ll be fine,” you told him, your voice hoarse with exhaustion and power drain. “She needs to take it easy and put up with some pampering from her loving husband, but she’ll be fine.” It was your usual speech to worried husbands after a healing, usually from midwifing, but it tended to work in all situations on worried husbands.

    “Mother!” yelled two equally worried male voices. You stood and got out of the way before you got trampled by Loki and Thor. Sera was already passed out in your arms. She was exhausted from flying you here and the energy she had poured into you to boost your powers. You stepped further out of the way. Your part here was done and now it was time for the family to worry over Frigga. You leaned against a wall in the corner, watching the happy reunion even as you slid down the wall to sit on the ground, knees to your chest and familiar curled safely in your lap. You laid your head against the wall to rest for a moment.

    You saw a legs in front of you an indeterminate amount of time later. You foggily looked up to see who they belonged to. All three Asgardian males. Odin was carrying Frigga, but all three men were there. You dreaded whatever words would come out of his mouth. You hadn’t exactly been kind to him while you were working. He was bound to be offended at how a little nothing girl from Midgard spoke to _him_ the king of Asgard, especially now that Frigga was alive and well.

    Loki knelt beside you and wrapped his arms tightly around you. “You saved her. I can’t thank you enough, or tell you how much it means to all of us,” he told you and you heard the emotion in his voice, the tears he wanted to shed over the fear and grief at the near-loss of his mother.

    “I told you I’d keep her safe,” you told him softly.

    “I was wrong about you, Y/N. I judged your rashly based on the fact that you are from Midgard. You have shown bravery and strength today worthy of a Valkyrie and my son has done well, choosing you to court for as long as you will have him. We owe you a great debt, and it shall not be forgotten,” Odin spoke then. You turned your attention to him, such as it was. You were _drained_. You couldn’t quite believe his words. Loki stared up at him shocked too. Odin was calling him ‘my son’? And approved of you? That didn’t seem possible. And yet.

    “Your majesty. The village has been secured,” a guard announced from the doorway.

    “Good, help the villagers clean up here. My sons, the ladies, and I will return to the palace,”

    “Yes, your majesty,” the guard told Odin and turned to do as he was told.

    Loki turned his attention to you. “Come on, love. On your feet,” he told you warmly and stood, pulling you to your feet with him. The world spun, turned black as you swayed, a roaring in your ears. You had way overtaxed your abilities to bring the queen back from the brink of death.

    *

    The next thing you knew, you were on something moving. You opened your eyes and found that you were cradled in Loki’s lap, his arms around you, but you were moving. Your brain finally woke up and you realized that you were on horseback, sidesaddle in front of Loki so he could hold you safely in his lap. “Sorry, darling, that was unkind of me,” Loki whispered in your ear.

    “What was?” you asked him softly.

    “I wished for... Father...” he hesitated over the word, old hurt hindering his words. “To see exactly how much power and strength it cost you to heal Mother. He doesn’t usually understand or appreciate how much energy magic takes until he can see the evidence of it himself,”

    “You knew I’d pass out when you moved me,” you accused. He inclined his head, looking apologetic. You then realized Sera wasn’t in your lap. “Sera? Where’s Sera?” you demanded, sittting up properly and frantically looking for the little cat-dragon.

    “She’s safe, it’s alright, darling, she’s safe. Thor has her,” Loki reassured you quickly. He gestured to the horse Thor was riding, just ahead of your. “Brother!” Loki called loudly. Thor turned in the saddle to look back.

    “What is it?” Thor asked, slowing his horse so Loki’s would catch up without Loki having to increase his speed. “Y/N, you’re awake! You gave us a fright passing out like that,”

    “You have Sera?” you asked him. He nodded and let you see that the little cat-dragon was cradled safely in his lap, held there securely with one of his strong arms. You relaxed when you saw she was safe.

    “Fear not, she’s safe. As is Mother; she is riding with Father ahead,” Thor gestured to the eight-legged horse, where you could see that Frigga was cradled in Odin’s lap, much as you were in Loki’s. “Are you alright?” he asked, concerned over the fact that you had passed out.

    “I’m fine. You know healing takes a lot of power, and that healing was... difficult,” you reminded him and settled more comfortably in Loki’s arms. Now that you knew Sera was safe you could relax. Loki kissed your forehead and Thor gave you a sad look.

    “Thank you for saving her,” Loki told you softly, you could tell from his tone that he didn’t feel words were enough. You leaned up to kiss him.

    “Like I would have done anything else,”

    “A lesser sorceress would have never drained this much power, put this much into the healing, to save one life, even the queen’s,” Loki said loudly and you saw Odin’s spine stiffen. He knew exactly how bad the queen had been. Loki turned his attention back to you. “We still have a little while before we’re back at the palace,” he kissed your forehead “Rest, darling. Sera’s safe with Thor, Frigga is alive and well, you’re safe with three strong men to watch over you,” he told you warmly with a small smile.

    “Silly Lokitty,” you replied warmly and curled as comfortably as you could in his arms, laying your head on his shoulder while your arms wrapped around him.

    “I love you, my darling, and I cannot even begin to thank you enough for what you have done for us,” he told you and kissed your forehead again.

    “I love you too,” you replied and closed your eyes to rest until you got back to the palace, trusting Loki to keep you ahorse.


	28. Chapter 28

    “We’re home, love. Are you awake?” Loki asked you awhile later.

    “I’m awake,” you replied softly as you opened your eyes and sat up properly. You were riding into the palace stables as you spoke.

    Loki looked you over as the hostlers came to take his horse, evaluating whether he thought you could stand on your own until he could dismount. You rolled your eyes. You were fine after a little rest. “Hand her down,” a voice said from beside Loki’s horse. Fandral was standing there, holding his arms up for you. Loki stiffened, but before he could protest or come up with a better plan, Fandral’s hands were on your waist and he was lifting you down from the horse as if you weighed nothing. Damn Asgardians were all stupidly strong. Fandral set you carefully on your feet with a bright flirtacious smile, but didn’t push farther than was polite. Loki dismounted quickly and wrapped a possessive arm around you.

    “Y/N!” Thor called from his horse. He seemed to have dropped the ‘lady’ of his usual address. No formalities today, which was nice and seemed to have meant something coming from him. He seemed to have adopted you more as a little sister since you’d started dating Loki. At least he approved of you...

    You stood on your own, pushing against Loki’s chest from where he had you leaning on him, and kissed Loki’s cheek before you went to see what Thor wanted. At least you walking on your own seemed to prove to the boys that you were ok. Thor handed the sleeping Sera down to you. You smiled up at him as you took the cat-dragon. “Thanks for watching out for her,” you told him, stepping back so he could dismount, cradling Sera safely to your chest as you did.

    “It was the least I could do,” Thor replied warmly and kissed the top of your head to the growls of Loki. Yes. You’d definitely been atoped as a litle sister. Thor went to Odin’s horse and took Frigga from his father. You rushed over, back in healer mode, to check on your charge. Loki caught up with you and stood just behind you.

    “She has not yet woken,” Odin said, his voice concerned.

    You nodded. “That is my doing. There was no need for her to have to suffer a long journey home.” You looked her over as you spoke to see how she was doing, focused on your tasks as healer and forgetting that you were literally surrounded by the entire royal family of the realm you were on. “Thor, let’s get her to her bed. I’ll lift my magic there. It would just distress her to witness having the people see her injured.” You started directing the boys automatically, used to acting as head or sole healer. You were about to give orders to Loki too, when you remembered you weren’t in charge here. You were a little Earth girl with no standing here. It was one thing to do it on the battlefield in a life or death situation, but this wasn’t life or death anymore. You blanched and turned to Odin, to try to backpeddle quickly before you got beheaded or something. “My apologies, your Majestly,” you spoke quickly, really not wanting to get smited by Odin for offending him and giving him orders. “That was simply my recommendation as healer. If you-”

    Odin waved a hand to cut you off. You gulped, terrified you’d overstepped, insulted, were about to be beheaded, or smited, or otherwise dead. Loki’s arm tightened around your shoulders. He didn’t trust Odin either. “I do not claim to understand the healer’s craft. All of the palace healers are attending the villagers and soldiers. You have proven yourself capable in this area.” Oh, good, it sounded like you weren’t being killed today. It sounded like his next words pained him. “I leave my wife’s care to you, Healer. My sons, see that she has anything she requires for this task,” Odin told Thor and Loki firmly. Loki still looked shocked to be included in ‘my sons’.

    “Yes, Father,” both boys replied, though Loki stumbled over the words.

    Thor carried Frigga adn led the way to her chambers while you and Loki followed behind and Odin went to go attend to his own duties. He couldn’t focus on family, even when Frigga was injured, not when his people needed his attention. “Did I somehow get upgraded from worthless Midgardian he only let stay here because Thor begged, to royal healer?” you asked Loki while you were walking, really confused about how that had happened and slightly less confused as to why you weren’t currently a pile of ash for issuing orders to the royal family in front of people.

    “Darling, I highly doubt that is going to be the most impressive thing Father does to thank you for saving Mother’s life. If there is anyone or anything in all of the nine realms he actually cares about, it would be her,” Loki told you as you were walking.

    “Oh gods, what is he going to do?” you whined.

    “No idea, but I’m sure he’ll come up with something,” Loki replied. He rushed ahead when you reached Frigga’s chambers and opened the door so Thor could carry Frigga through.

    “Lay her on the bed,” you told Thor as you followed him into the room. Loki took care of clearing the room of maids. Thor did as you bid and laid Frigga on her bed. “She’s going to be just fine,” you reminded both of the boys and shooed them back from the bed while you sat beside Frigga. You waved a hand over her, lifting your healing sleep spell. She stirred at once and woke looking confused as she opened her eyes to her bright golden room. “How are you feeling, your Majesty?” you asked her politely, but saw that she was just fine. A little weak, a little tired yet, but she would be absolutely fine. She sat up slowly.

    “Much better than I recall feeling last I was awake,” she commented in her warm, gentle way.

    “You were attacked by a bandit and were injured defending the children of Asa Village,” you reminded her. She nodded, remembering.

    “I take it you healed me, dear?” she asked. You nodded a bit sheepishly.

    “You gave your boys a fright,” you told her before she could start thanking you. You didn’t need or want thanks. You stood from the bed and gestured to Thor and Loki so they could visit and fret over their mother. You had a quiet word with one of the maids Loki hadn’t scared away giving her instructions for how to take care of the queen.

    *

    Odin insisted that you all needed to come to dinner that night. Frigga had fallen back to sleep after she visited with her sons and it was only after she was asleep that you could drag Thor and Loki away from her bed. Loki insisted that you needed a nap too before dinner and you didn’t argue too hard with him. You had drained a lot of power healing Frigga. You convinced him to let you lay your head on his chest so you could fall asleep listening to his purrs. He chuckled and kissed the top of your head and acquieced to your request. It hadn’t taken much convincing.

    The maids found you napping very innocently in Loki’s bed and you woke to their ‘awws’. You flushed as you sat up and Loki chuckled at how red you had turned. The maids helped you dress for dinner after Loki told you again to play nice with them. Today, they babbled on and on about how brave it was for you to go into battle and how skilled a healer you must be to save the queen’s life. It seemed the entire palace knew what you’d done today. Great. Just what you needed. You were already a freak here for being Midgardian. At least you’d only be here a couple more days and hopefully the gossip would calm.

    You left Sera behind tonight. Poor familiar was still exhausted, so you tucked her into your bed where she’d be safe and happy and not dragged to a long boring dinner. Loki met you in your sitting room just as he had the previous night. He bowed over your hand and kissed your knuckles and the maids swooned from second-hand romance. He loved teasing them. Silly Lokitty.

    “Play nice with the maids,” you teased as you laid your hand on his arm.

    He laughed. “But darling~” he replied. “They so enjoy it. They’re hopeless romantics the lot of them,” his voice was warm and teasing.

    “You just enjoy the attention, prince hot-face,” you teased, laughing at him.

    “Prince hot-face? My lady wounds me with her wicked tongue,”

    The maids were flat out laughing at your antics as you left the suite “Why was your father so insistent we attend dinner tonight?” you asked Loki in English as you walked down to dinner with him. Not everyone here used Allspeak or spoke English, so it was safer for more private conversations.

    “I don’t know,” Loki replied in the same language.

    “I do not either,” Thor added as he stepped out of his suite. “He seems to be up to something, though.” You all agreed with that and it didn’t ease any of your fears.

    “Lokitty, try not to take this next question the wrong way...” Loki nodded to indicate he heard you and you saw the same reservation on his face. “Is your father going to try to force us to marry because I saved Frigga? I love you, but I’m not ready to consider that step yet. We _just_ started dating officially,” you shut your mouth, hoping you hadn’t hurt Loki’s feelings by expressing your concern.

    “I agree wholeheartedly, my darling. I love you dearly, but if we are to wed, I wish for it to be on our terms and because it is what we desire,” Loki told you gently. You sighed in relief. “And I do not know what Father is up to,”

    “We will find out soon,” Thor mused as you reached the great hall for dinner. You all steeled your spines and stepped into the hall up to your places at the head table. You still weren’t used to the servants pulling out your chair and seating you. You were just a little Midgardian and had no rights being at the head table of the court of Asgard.

    “You look like you are feeling better, your majesty,” you told Frigga warmly when you saw her.

    “I am indeed, thanks to you, dear,” she replied just as warmly. You flushed at even that much praise. You usually didn’t stick around long after people were healed, besides the team and they just said a quick thanks and moved on. They weren’t royalty.

    Odin stood before the meal began and you all stared to see what he was going to say. He gestured to everyone to remain seated. “As you all are aware by now, Asa Villiage was attacked by bandits while the queen was there on a humanitarian healing mission,” Odin told the assembled court. “The queen was gravely injured during the attack and it was only due to the heroic actions of Y/N of Midgard that she still lives. Mere thanks are not enough for the service she has done for this realm, for what she has done for me and my family in saving my wife. My thanks are not enough, nor is the boon I have to offer, but I hope you will accept the gift and my gratitude for your deeds on this day,” he addressed that last part to you specifically. There was no correct response than to nod your acceptance of his words. You wanted to protest you didn’t need thanks and gifts for doing a healing, but that would be completely inappropriate. You just hoped the gift would be something reasonable. “From this day forward, you are not only a child of Midgard, but also a citizen of Asgard, with the title of _hertuginne_ and all of the honors that go with it,” there were gasps from the crowd at that and you noted the word so you could ask Loki to translate it for you. Even Loki looked surprised. “I also grant you full access to the Bifrost so you may return whenever you desire,”

    You stood then and offered him the proper curtsy. “Your Majesty is most generous,” you replied, at least on solid ground here. You may not understand exactly what he’d given you, but it was a _lot_ you could tell, with how excited the crowd was over it. A few more words that it wasn’t enough to thank you and you could take your seat again.

    Dinner started a moment later. “What does  _hertuginne_ mean?” you asked Loki softly enough that you wouldn’t be overheard. “I don’t know that one,”

    He smiled at you. “I’m not surprised. Asgardian nobility titles were probably not considered important for a Midgardian to learn,” he teased a little. “The closest translation would probably be...duchess? It’s one step below the royal family,” he explained, thinking over the best translation for it. You spent most of dinner thinking over the implications. “It’s a great honor, but don’t be mistaken, it’s not his only motivation,” Loki told you, still softly. “In granting you a noble title, he has also made it so that if we _were_ to hypothetically marry someday, there would be no stain on the royal family for marrying a commoner from Midgard,”

    “Still, that is a _really_ impressive gift, especially considering how much he didn’t want a Midgardian in his realm,” you replied. Loki inclined his head, giving Odin that point. Plus you had free access to the Bifrost, and _all_ of the magic texts in a realm where magicians were cherished. It was a wonderful gift indeed.

    After dinner came dancing. Loki shrugged and seemed apologetic at the antics of his people, but you went out on the dance floor with him. He loved to dance and the dances were similar enough to ones you knew that you could keep up.

    “May I have this dance?” Fandral asked you between dances with a flirtacious smile. You glanced at Loki, unsure of the custom here, but he stepped aside with a wary look at Fandral.

    “Very well,” you replied politely and took Fandral’s arm. The dance was slow, which was good, since while Fandral was graceful and a good dancer, he didn’t have Loki’s grace, or the same ability to lead, especially with your slight unfamiliarity with the dance.

    “Welcome to the peerage, Lady Y/N,” Fandral told you lightly.

    “Thank you, though really, any healer would have done the same,”

    “And yet, here you are, the first Midgardian in living history to not only gain Asgardian citizenship, but status as nobility as well,” he teased just as lightly. He was light on his feet as well and you wondered what he was getting at. He was silent for most of the rest of the dance at least. Until the end. “Surely, now that you have options, you would wish to consider other romantic options than just surly bookworm Loki.” You didn’t know what he was doing until he had leaned down to steal a kiss, obviously offering himself as a better option.

    You acted without thinking and punched him square in the nose with as much power as you could, throwing in the nice hip rotation that Nat had been drilling into you to improve your punching power. She had taught you how to throw an excellent punch and Fandral fell backwards to the ground, clutching his bleeding nose.

    Loki and Thor both came running over to you. Loki wrapped an arm around you. “Are you alright, darling?” he asked, concerned, though he knew you could take care of yourself.

    “He tried to kiss me,” you protested indignantly at Loki, who knew that you were just shocked at the rude behavior of a noble, especially one of Thor’s friends who shouldn’t have insulted Loki by trying to steal his girlfriend. You glared while Thor offered Fandral a hand and pulled him to his feet.

    The second Fandral was back on his feet, muttering a half-hearted apology, Thor decked him hard in the face too, blackening one of his eyes. “Fandral, you have been a friend for years, but you are a horrid flirt, and should know better than to insult a Lady’s honor, most especially a lady under my care as Y/N has been a sister to me during my time on Midgard,” yup, you’d been adopted, officially. “You should know even better than to insult my brother or his honor,” Thor snarled at his friend, who was hopefully just being stupid lulled by ale into stupidity.

    Fandral got to his feet and started spouting off more apologies. He didn’t notice Loki hand you off to Thor, who wrapped a strong warm arm around you. He did notice Loki’s rage at the insult on him and on you. “No harm meant! You have to give a man a fair shot!” Fandral protested quickly, but that didn’t stop from summoning a dagger and stabbing Fandral in the side for it.

    “You insult me and more importantly, my lady. I know you were taught court manners, attempting to steal a kiss from a lady you are not courting is a horrid violation,”

    “It was teasing, a flirtation!” Fandral protested.

    “Children,” Frigga’s voice got everyone’s attention. Fandral looked relieved that Frigga was stepping in to help. Even weakened, she was formidible.

    “Mother,” greeted Loki and Thor.

    “Queen Mother,” greeted you and Fandral.

    Fandral looked so relieved that you almost...almost... felt bad for him when Frigga reached up and boxed his ear, hard. “Fandral. I know you have dated every lady in the court, but that does not give you the right to act in such an uncouth way. I know I taught you how to treat a lady properly,” she scolded him firmly and he looked so ashamed to be scolded by the queen. “Apologize to Lady Y/N,” she ordered and twisted his ear. He apologized quickly and elegantly, after which Frigga dragged him from the room by his ear, lecturing about the proper behavior of a gentleman.

    “Death by Mother’s lecture. Poor man. I mourn for his soul,” Thor said mournfully. “Granted, he should not have acted so, even under the influence of ale,” he turned to where you were still held securely in his arms. “Are you alright?”

    You nodded. “I’m fine,”

    “You’re bleeding,” Loki said dryly as Thor let you go. You looked at your hand.

    “Oh. So I am,” you replied, looking at your knuckles. “At least I hit him properly. Nat would be proud.” Both boys laughed at that.

    Loki wrapped a handkerchief around your hand. “Come on, darling, I think that’s enough excitement for the evening. I’ll fix that up for you back at our suite,” he told you warmly. You didn’t even catch that he said ‘our suite’.

    “Good idea,” you agreed quickly, tired of socializing. Thor walked with you back to the family wing and bid you a good night when you reached his rooms. Loki walked with you to his rooms. You used magic to change into normal pajamas, not the silly nightdresses that the Asgardians preferred apparently. Loki removed the handkerchief from your hand and used magic to heal the split skin.

    “At least I don’t have to worry about your capability to defend your own honor,” Loki teased.

    “Just because your Father gave me a title, doesn’t mean I’m a fluff-brained noble,” you reminded him.

    “That is a relief, my darling. I would hate for anything about you to change,” he told you and kissed you.

    “I love you too,” you replied with a smile.

    


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's past the writer's bedtime. Proofing will come later

    “I’m sorry I have to leave you on your own again, dearest...” Loki told you at breakfast the next morning. You’d been free from nightmares, so had woken in your own bed without a purring Loki under your head. You’d missed your purring pillow. Sera had been purring in your arms, but it wasn’t quite the same as your Loki.

    You reached up and touched his cheek reassuringly. “Don’t be, Loki. You’re a prince and have responsibilities here,” you reminded him. It was hard not to call him ‘Lokitty’ in front of the court, but you managed.

    “I know, but I can still dislike leaving you alone when today is our last day in Asgard,” he reminded you sadly.

    “Stop fretting, love. I’ll be fine. I’ll have Sera with me, everyone in the realm knows we’re dating and that I’m currently in favor with the king for saving the queen’s life. It’ll be perfectly safe,” you reminded him. “Plus I’m not a helpless maiden,”

    He leaned over to kiss your cheek. “Very well, but please do me a couple of favors?” he asked. You raised an eyebrow and he continued. He touched the necklace around your neck, which you hadn’t taken off since he’d given it to you. “Please don’t take this off, and if you leave the palace proper, take someone with you, preferably Sif, though Hogun or Volstagg will accompany you if you ask,”

    “Fine, overprotective cat,” you teased. He laughed and kissed you.

    “In-love cat,” he corrected lightly, his lips brushing yours as he spoke. “And I protect what I love, my darling,” he reminded you warmly.

    “Loki, your brother said you two have work to do with the king,” Sif interrupted you as she joined your table for breakfast. Thor had left already to help Odin with whatever it was he needed.

    Loki inclined his head. “We do,” he agreed, obviously wondering where Sif was going with this. He was interrupted by more people joining your table. Volstagg and Hogun joined you. Fandral joined a minute later, looking worse for the wear and extremely sheepish. His eye was still black and his nose was still bruised too.

    He bowed deeply to you and actually dropped to one knee. “Lady, I sincerely apologize for my grevious insult upon you last night. There are no excuses for my actions, nor my rude behavior against you. I sincerely hope that you will find it in your heart to forgive me.” He seemed sincerely apologetic. You glanced at Loki who nodded. Having a human-shaped lie detector was useful at times.

    “I forgive you, Fandral,” you replied. “Though I do hope that you will remember that I am not interested in your romantic advances,” you added a little stiffly. You didn’t want there to be any confusion. Thor would be upset if Loki killed his friend.

    Fandral kissed the back of your hand. “You are most gracious, lady,” he replied and didn’t address the rest of your statement. He wasn’t a moron. He stood again and turned to Loki. “My apologies. I did not mean insult upon you or your lady,” he told Loki much less formally than he should have. Loki glowered, but nodded, accepting the words. He placed a hand on your arm when you were about to stand to demand Fandral show him the proper courtesy due his station.

    “We don’t need to pull rank on Thor’s idiot friends,” he told you kindly. “Besides, rank and status aren’t important except during official functions. The rest of the time to them I’m merely Thor’s annoying kid brother. Though Fandral will do well to remember that I protect what I love and will not suffer insults on your honor, dearest,” he addressed you, but his words were a warning for Fandral, who nodded and fled to sit between Volstagg and Hogun.

    “So, Y/N, did you have a plan for while Loki’s working this morning?” Sif asked you pleasantly over her breakfast, ignoring the display of testosterone poisioning.

    “I was hoping to visit the markets this morning. I’ve heard tell of the wonderful craftsmen on Asgard and wanted to see their wares for myself-” you started.

    “I’ll go with you if you don’t mind the company. I still need to buy a present for Thor before Yule. Maybe you can help me pick something out?” she suggested before you could ask her to join you. Loki shot her a grateful look. The boys looked relieved that they wouldn’t have to go shopping with you. They knew that Loki would have asked someone to accompany you outside of the palace.

    “That would be appreciated,” you told Sif.

    “We have _got_ to work on your informal Asgardian,” Sif teased. You stuck your tongue out at her in reply.

    “My Asgardian is _fine_ ,” you grumped at her. “Though Thor still whines about my accent. I speak it with the boys all the time back home,”

    “And they haven’t whined that you’re too formal?” Sif teased. She was surprised that Thor hadn’t said something. Loki wouldn’t have cared.

    “Most of the time they don’t even notice when I switch languages,” you told her with a smirk. “They’re so used to using Allspeak on Midgard that they don’t notice right away when people switch languages. It’s become a game back home to see how long we can speak in something besides English before they notice,” you explained. You had to speak slower when you were trying to be informal. You’d learned formal Asgardian more completely, as that would be more important if you ever had to use it on actual Asgardians, or so your instructors had insisted. “Thor prefers the game where he hands Mjolnir to someone when they aren’t paying attention and watching their confusion when it drops to the ground with their hands still attached to it,” the group laughed at that bit of silliness.

    “And our trickster? Surely he’s played plenty of jokes on your Midgardian friends,” Hogun asked, sure stories of Loki on Midgard would be juicy.

    “Plenty,” you agreed, but didn’t go into more details on what the troublesome ball of mischief got himself up to when he was bored. He’d been less bored recently, trying to win your affections and the team was grateful he’d been occupied with something besides annoying the shit out of them.

    You sat and talked with Thor’s friends until they had all finished their breakfasts. You stood when they all did. “I’m sorry, dearest, but I do need to get to work. Play nice with Lady Sif and try not to scare the poor merchants,” he bid you warmly. You laughed at your silly Lokitty.

    “I think the merchants are safe unless they suddenly accept US dollars,” you reminded him, teasing. You were going window-shopping only. “And Sif can kick my ass without breaking a sweat, of course I’ll be nice to her,” you added with a smirk and a glance at Sif, who inclined her head accepting the praise. “Do you still have mom’s ring?” you asked. He fished it out from under his shirt and showed it to you. He went to remove the chain, to return it to you. You touched his hand to stop him. “I just wanted to make sure it was safe. Keep it for now,” you told him warmly and stood up on your toes to kiss him. He tucked the ring back under his shirt. “Off to work with you, princeling,” you teased. He huffed and rolled his eyes.

    “I’m not sure if that’s better or worse than ‘lokitty’,” he grumbled, but with such mirth at your silly teasing about his title that you could tell he was pleased that you cared enough to give him silly nicknames. “I love you, little sorceress. I’ll find you once my business with Father is concluded,”

    “I love you too, princeling,” you teased. He smirked and leaned down to your ear.

    “And don’t fret about paying for things in the market, dearest. Buy what you like,” he told you in a whisper in your ear, knowing you were uncomfortable about things like money. You hadn’t grown up with any, and while you were well-paid now, you still hadn’t gotten used to actually having money, all you did spend was on spoiling your friends, and your Loki, especially with books. You were also on a foreign planet and of course had no money of your own here. You felt the purse of coins appear in the pocket of your gown.

    “But-” you started to protest. You couldn’t just accept handouts. You never had. Loki’s finger pressed against your lips.

    “No buts, dearheart. Go have fun,” he told you and kissed you again. “Sif, makes sure she has fun. And buys something for _herself_ ,” he added firmly, knowing you too well. Sif grinned and nodded.

    “Of course, your highness,” she teased. None of Thor’s idiot friends ever used their titles with the princes. Apparently except when they were joking. Loki left then, going one way to meet Odin. Sif linked her arm with yours and led you out of the palace proper after you’d said goodbye to the warriors three.

    The markets were huge and gorgeous and filled with all sorts of wonderful wares. You spent a long time looking over everything with Sif. She was well-known here and you were obvious, being the only Midgardian in Asgard. It was somewhat harder to tell when you were dressed as an Asgardian, but Sera on your shoulder was a dead giveaway, and there was some other sense the Asgardians had, but they could all tell you weren’t from here. Your accent couldn’t be _that_ bad...

    “Don’t forget, I’m not allowed to let you go back to the palace until you’ve let Loki spoil you and buy you something,” Sif reminded you after you’d been through quite a lot of the shops and stalls. “And I still need to pick out a Yule gift for Thor. What are you giving the boys?” she asked, hoping you could spark her with an idea.

    You flushed a little at that question. “Mom and I had a tradition and I’m keeping it up with the boys and the rest of the team...” you started a little embarrassed. “Since we had magic, we could summon or create almost anything we needed, or I could since mom didn’t have as much power as I do. So all of our Yule presents were always handmade gifts, since that showed our love more than something we could buy or create with magic. It was something we had to put hard work into instead,” you explained. “So I’m making everyone a scarf this year,” you added quickly, embarrassed at your simple inexpensive gift.

    “They’ll love it,” she replied. “I have no talent for the ladylike arts, so I have to stick with buying something for them,” she added. “Loki’s easy. He likes books. Thor doesn’t need or want anything,” she whined.

    “Actually, he does. But you _can’t_ tell him I told you,” you told her firmly. Her eyes lit up.

    “I swear!” she told you quickly, desperate for an idea of something he’d like instead of whatever the Asgardian equivalent of a tie was, which was probably what she’d been getting him for years.

    “Thor keeps a journal to help him remember his adventures. He’s almost out of room in his current one and I know he’d appreciate a new one, especially if it’s paired with a nice new pen,” you told her softly. Thor didn’t like most people knowing. He thought people would see him as weak, since writing wasn’t seen as a warrior’s art.

    “That’s perfect!” Sif told you, not seeming to judge Thor at all for keeping a journal in the first place. “There’s a shop over this way,” she pointed and led you to the shop where you picked out a journal together for Thor and she got him a nice pen set too. “Perfect, Yule shopping done,” she grinned. “Now to get something for you so Loki won’t kill me for the dishonor of not making sure you had enough fun,”

    “But this has been fun and I don’t need anything. Though there is one thing I wanted to look for...”

    “And that would be?” she prompted. You hadn’t bought anything while you’d been here, extremely conscientious of the coinpurse in your pocket.

    “A gift for Loki...” you admitted. She huffed and rolled her eyes.

    “That doesn’t count. He specifically said you had to get something for _yourself,_ ” she reminded you firmly, but let you wander until you found one of the jewelers shops. You looked over the selection and found the perfect thing, but still balked at actually getting it. Sif caught your expression. “You better get it,” she told you, not unkindly, but firmly nonetheless when she caught what you were looking at. “You know he’s going to ask both of us if you got everything you wanted and that boy can smell a lie before it even comes out of your mouth,”

    “But it’s _his_ money,” you hissed in English, knowing Sif spoke it but not a lot of other Asgardians did.

    Sif laughed. “He’s a prince. Money is nothing to him here,” she reminded you, also in English. “Buy the damn thing,” she teased. You huffed and turned to the merchant to complete the sale after Sif nodded to confirm the price was fair. She knew you didn’t know Asgardian prices yet and had agreed to confirm fair prices or argue on your behalf if they weren’t fair. “Surely there has to be _some_ trinket that catches your eye,” she added, nervous as the sun was getting high and you still hadn’t gotten anything for yourself.

    You shrugged. “I don’t need anything,”

    “This piece has a companion,” the merchant added helpfully.

    “Thank you, but I’m not sure that’s a good idea at this juncture. I don’t want to scare Loki away, and matching jewelry might do just that. We haven’t been courting _that_ long...”

    “Ooh, I have an idea,” Sift told you. “Thank you,” she added to the merchant. “This way,” she pointed to the back of the markets. “There’s a mage supply shop back here and I _think_ they’ll have something you’ll like. I know Midgardian magic is different than ours, but...” she led you to the shop and it was amazing. Your mouth dropped open in awe at all of the artifacts and tools here.

    Your eyes caught on a collection of different colored jeweled pendants. “Are these what I think they are?” you asked the room in general as you stared in awe.

    “The jewels, miss? They are a reservoir of power. Some call them a focus,” the shop keeper explained, coming up behind you. Sif turned when he got too close, prepared to defend you both, since your attention was on the shiny magical objects you’d only heard about. “Does one call to you? A jewel must choose its wielder, I’m afraid,” the shopkeeper added, obviously doubting that one of the jewels would choose a lowly Midgardian. You passed your hand over the case, reaching for the jewels with your power. Most of them ignored you. Some gave you slight interest, but the one on the end demanded your attention. It was a jet black pendant in a gorgeous gold setting, set in a handflower instead of a necklace like the others.

    “That one,” you told the shopkeeper.

    “That one?” he demanded incredulously. “But only the most powerful-” he seemed to realize who you were then, and nodded, pulling the jewel out of the case. He felt the power surge too as he handed it to you. You placed the black nearly egg-sized jewel on the back of your left hand, the gold-setting against your skin. It settled there with magic, and the slim gold chains wrapped around your middle finger like a ring, and around your wrist, giving the illusion of it just being a gorgeous piece of jewelry since the chains and setting were beautifully crafted. “It has called to you indeed, lady,” the shopkeeper sounded in awe that this particular focus chose you. You would have to look up more information on it later. The shopkeeper named a price and Sif’s eyes grew wide, but she nodded approval at it. You dug out the coins to hand to him.

    “Why were you so surprised at the price?” you asked Sif when you left the shop.

    “That was a really low price for a magical item especially one with that much power,” she explained. You nodded and added that to your list of mysteries for the day. You both looked up at the sound of wings approaching you. Sif held up her arm as a raven swooped down from the sky to land on it. You held Sera firmly to keep her from attacking the bird. Sift pulled a message from the raven’s leg. “We have to get back to the palace quickly,” she told you. “The queen wishes to have lunch with us,”

    “That sounds...intimidating,” you grumbled, but walked quickly with Sif back to the palace, vanishing your gift for Loki back to your suite as you walked.

    Sif laughed. “The queen is gentle and kind, you have nothing to worry about, especially since you saved her life. She already adored you for loving Loki. She just adores you more now for saving her,”

    “She’s my boyfriend’s _mom_ ,” you protested. Sif laughed again.

    “And so she’ll love you because Loki loves you if nothing else. And don’t you dare doubt that boy loves you. I’ve never seen him so smitten,” she told you warmly and laughing you returned to the palace and your terrifying lunch with the queen.


	30. Chapter 30

    You paused outside the palace and used a bit of magic to make sure your dress and shoes were free of dust from your outing. You did the same for Sif and she led you to the queen’s parlor. Sif knocked on the parlor door politely and Frigga opened it an instant later. “Hello darlings, come in!” she bid you both warmly and stepped back from the door to let you in.

    “Allmother,” Sif greeted her politely and you copied the greeting. You stepped inside the parlor and saw that there was a table and chairs set up already for lunch. You joined Frigga and Sif there nervously, but soon relaxed at Frigga’s open caring manner. She really just wanted to get to know the girl Loki was courting and had invited Sif along as a buffer. She was too observant and knowing and knew you’d be nervous.

    “So, did you find anything interesting in the markets?” Frigga asked after Sif told her that’s where you’d been that morning.

    “I found a Yule present for Thor, finally. Thanks to Y/N,” Sif announced.

    Frigga smiled at her warmly. “Great news! I know you’ve been stressing about what to get him. He can be difficult to shop for,” Frigga commiserated warmly. “That was the last of your Yule shopping too, right?” Sif nodded. Frigga turned to you. “Do they still celebrate Yule on Midgard?”

    “Some do. Most celebrate a christian holiday instead now,” you tried to explain, and then had to go into more detail about Christmas for the Asgardians.

    “Did you find any Yule gifts?”

    You shook your head. “I... actually handmake all of my Yule presents. It’s an old tradition,” you explained a little embarrassed at the inexpensive old tradition.

    Frigga looked impressed instead. “That’s a sweet tradition,” she told you instead of looking down on it. The tradition had come when you hadn’t had much money, so it was still a little embarrasing now. “It’s much more meaningful when a gift comes from the heart,” she added approvingly. “Did you find anything in our markets that striked your fancy?”

    Sif laughed. “Loki threatened her with my bodily harm if she didn’t purchase something for herself,” she informed the queen, who just smiled knowingly. Of course Loki wanted to spoil you and of course he would make sure it was done if he couldn’t be there to do it himself.

    “And what did you choose for my son to spoil you with?” she asked you knowingly. You raised your hand to show her the handflower and the black jewel there. Her eyes widened when she saw it. “A jewel chose you?” she asked shocked.

    “So it appears. I’ve heard of the focus jewels, but they are extremely rare on Midgard, so I don’t really know much about them except that they’re a reservoir of power...” you admitted. You were surprised by how shocked the queen seemed to be that it had chosen you.

    “They aren’t rare here, but they only choose the strongest mages to attach themselves to, especially a jewel like that one. I didn’t even know that they had even chosen Midgardians to attach themselves to. I’ll have the relevant texts sent to your suite so you can review them,” Frigga told you and you nodded and thanked her. That would be helpful indeed. You really didn’t know much about them.

    “She also bought a gift for Loki,” Sif teased. You glared at her across the table and stuck your tongue out.

    “Of course she did,” Frigga replied warmly, amused by your antics and seeming pleased by your friendship with Sif.

    Before she could ask what it was, Loki teleported into the room. He looked around surprised and went to kiss Frigga’s cheek. “My apologies, Mother. I was finished with my business with Father and came to see my lady. I did not realize you ladies were having lunch,” he came over to kiss your cheek. “Enjoy your lunch, darling. I’ll see you later,” he bid you warmly and disappeared again after a quick farewell to Sif and his mother and another apology for interrupting. You smirked at the place he’d been. Silly Lokitty. You enjoyed the rest of your lunch with Frigga and Sif and were not at all surprised that it ended with tea and chocolate cake. She walked you both to the door of her parlor and thanked you for spending lunch with her.

    “Do you need help finding Loki?” Sif asked you kindly. You shook your head.

    “He’s in his room,” you replied She raised an eyebrow. “I can find him by my mom’s ring, that’s why he’s holding onto it.” She nodded, remembering that you’d asked about the ring at breakfast.

    “Make sure you tell him you bought something for yourself. I really don’t feel like facing his wrath today,” she added before she headed to her own amusements for the rest of the afternoon. You had a feeling she was going to go beat someone up in the practice courts for the afternoon. She’d probably had enough girly activities for the day.

    “I will!” You called after her and summoned the gift you’d bought for Loki and began working the spells on it as you walked. Sera fluttered ahead of you, leading your way through the palace halls so you could focus on your work. No one seemed surprised to see a mage working spells on a piece of jewelry while walking through the halls of the palace. It was nice to be able to be so open about magic in public. Sure, you could on Earth too, within reason, but magic was just such a part of everyday life here that it was a different type of acceptance and one you greatly appreciated.

    You had the spell finished by the time you made it back to Loki’s suite. You walked into his sitting room and found him lounging on his couch with a book. He stood when you entered and set his book aside before he came to hug you while Sera fluttered around the pair of you making her chiming purrs. “How was your day, darling?” he asked you warmly and kissed the top of your head.

    “Lunch with your mom was nice, at least it was after I got over it being intimidating as hell, especially with it being a surprise, but she’s sweet. And she served tea and chocolate cake,” you add with a bit of teasing. Loki pouted.

    “I didn’t get any chocolate cake!” he whined at you. You smirked at him and held out your hand where a small plate with a piece of Frigga’s chocolate cake appeared a moment later. His eyes lit up at it and he took it from you gladly.

    “From you mother,” you explained at his raised eyebrow and settled on his couch with him where he could eat his chocolate cake. You smiled at your adorable sweets-loving love as he ate his chocolate cake with all of the glee of a toddler. He gestured at you with his fork for you to continue telling him about your day while he enjoyed his cake. You smiled. “Sif and I had a good time in the markets. She found a Yule gift for Thor. Oh, and I got you something!” you added excitedly.

    “Darling, you were supposed to get something for _yourself_ ,” he scolded lightly, but seemed pleased that you thought to get him something.

    “I did, but I got you something too. I did have a guess on the size, but magic can fix it if it’s off,” you added as you summoned the ring you’d bought him and slid the ring on the ring finger of his right hand. “Unless you don’t like it!?” you added hesitantly with a blush. “I-I just thought you wouldn’t want to hold onto mom’s ring for long, and necklaces and bracelets aren’t really worn by men...” you trailed off, realizing you were babbling. Loki smiled and tilted your chin up so he could kiss you.

    “I love it, darling. Thank you,” he told you after he’d kissed you. He quickly gave you back your mom’s ring, which you slid back onto your own hand after removing the charm from it. “So, did you buy something for yourself, or must I go scold Sif for not doing her duty?”

    “Sif is safe. We found a magic shop in the market. I found this there,” you told him and showed him the jewel on the back of your hand. He took your hand to look it over.

    “Impressive find indeed, darling,” he sounded truly impressed. “And it’s properly chosen you too... That’s rare for one of the jewels to choose a Midgardian,” he added distractedly.

    “Your Mother said she’d be sending books up for me about the jewels. They’re really rare on Midgard, so I don’t know much about them,” you explained.

    “Ah, that’s what the maids were up to,” he commented and then laughed when you went to your own sitting room and found the books on your coffee table. You picked them up, but didn’t delve into them right now, instead you vanished them to the dimensional pocket where you’d be able to summon them again when you got back to Earth and could invest time in reading them properly. Frigga wouldn’t mind you borrowing the books and you knew you’d be back to Asgard eventually. You were a citizen here...somehow. A lot had happened over the course of a few short days.

    There was another feast that night and more dancing. Frigga announced during it that you, Thor, and Loki would be returning to Midgard in the morning. So you had to stay later than you wanted dancing with nobles and Thor’s idiot friends. You finally found a chance to escape with Loki and took it the second you could. “While Asgard is beautiful, I am anxious to get home. We did leave our friends with a bit of a mess with the witch hunters,” you reminded Loki as you walked arm and arm back to your suites.

    “We’ll deal with those men. Fear not, darling,” Loki told you with a bit of a growl to his voice.

    “I know we will, princeling,” you teased, trying to get him to lighten up from his overprotective mood.

    He sighed and rolled his eyes. “Why the change from ‘Lokitty’?” he asked, particular about his nicknames.

    “Because, silly princeling, you aren’t a cat right now,” you reminded him quite logically. “But you _are_ a prince,” you reminded him just as logically.

    “And _you_ are incorrigible, magelet,” he teased in reply.

    You raised an eyebrow. “And apparently not the only one full of new and exciting nicknames,” you added, making him laugh. He kissed you goodnight at the door between your suites. You changed for bed in a pair of his stolen pajamas, finding the tunic and soft leggings more comfortable than the stupid nightdresses that Asgardian ladies apparently preferred, even if you did have to roll up the legs. Loki didn’t mind and just wanted you comfortable. You were about to climb into bed, Sera was sleeping on the couch in the sitting room, but something felt off. It wasn’t anything you could put a name on, or put your finger to, but you had a bad feeling, so you made your way nervously through the connecting door to Loki’s sitting room and to his bedroom. You knocked hesitantly, nervous at approaching him at this hour.

    “Yes?” he asked from inside and you cracked the door open, just as nervous. “Y/N? Is something wrong?” He got out of bed quickly and came over concern radiating off of him as he pulled you into a hug.

    “D-do you mind if I stay here tonight?” you finally asked. “Something feels...off,” you added at his concerned expression. “I don’t know what or why, but I’d feel better not being alone,” you explained. He nodded and ushered you into the room, closing the door behind you.

    “Of course, you can stay,” he told you and herded you to the bed, his arm protectively around your shoulders. “Don’t fret, love. You’re safe here with me,” he reminded you as you both climbed into the bed. He made sure you took the side furthest from the door to the room, so he could protect you. Of course he did. You intended to turn your back to be polite and just share the sleeping space and safety, but he pulled you to him so you were nestled safely against him, your head on his chest where you could listen to him purr.

    “You turned back all the way Asgardian, why do you still purr?” you asked him softly as you started to doze off, safe in his arms.

    He chuckled and kissed the top of your head. “Because, my darling, it soothes you and makes you happy,” he told you warmly. You realized that you shouldn’t have been surprised. “Get some rest, dearest. We return home early in the morning,”

    You closed your eyes again and curled yourself more comfortably in his arms. “I love you, Lokitty,” you told him softly as his purrs were calling you to sleep.

    “I love you too, little sorceress,”


	31. Chapter 31

    Loki’s purrs soothed you to sleep and distracted you from thinking about the bad feeling you had in your own chambers. The bad feeling hadn’t extended to Sera so you’d left her sleep in peace on your sitting room’s couch. It was safe with Loki, and comfortably curled in his cool arms.

    You woke in the middle of the night to the roars of an angry dragon. You and Loki both jolted awake and jumped to your feet. “Stay here,” Loki barked the order as if you’d actually listen. He ran first from the room, you were right on his heels, drawing your wand as you ran.

    Light. Light. You needed light. The real light spell wouldn’t come to your mind. So you did something you told your students to _never_ to and cheated. “Lumos,” you whispered and your wand’s tip lit up. With magic, a lot of time intent worked just as well as the proper words, and... Harry Potter spells could be used in a lot of circumstances. But it was cheating and you told your students over and over again not to rely on those spells.

    You ran through Loki’s sitting room through your own, to the bedroom where the dragon was currently standing on top of a man, roaring at him. Your bedroom was in disarray. No, that wasn’t right. It was just the bed, which looked like it had been stabbed multiple times. You saw why a moment later. There was an illusion of you sleeping in the bed. You saw the shimmer of green magic around it and knew Loki had left it as a trap in case your bad feeling was for a reason.

    “Sera, I’m fine, I’m here,” you told the dragon urgently. She looked over at you and relaxed, though she kept her captive pinned under her. The man was struggling and cursing, but there was nothing he could do against the dragon standing on him.

    Loki pulled you to him and held you tightly against his side. “The guards should have come to investigate by now,” he told you softly. He looks at the dragon. “Sera, can you keep him here, alive?” he asks the dragon. She bobs her head and flashes her teeth at the man under her.

    “I will keep the man. And not eat him. Yet,” she replied more maliciously than you’d liked, but she _did_ just catch an assassin. It was a normal reaction.

    “Why would he want to stab me?” you asked Loki, not understanding why someone would want to kill you. You were just a little witch from Midgard.

    “We’ll find out,” he growled. Keeping your hand in his, he summoned a dagger in his other hand and led you out into the hall. You saw guards slumped on the floor in the places you recognized as their posts. Loki cursed and led you further into the hall. He walked across the hall and down a few doors and burst inside. “Thor, get up!” he boomed. There was scrambling in Thor’s bedroom. He came into his sitting room a moment later.

    “What’s going on?” Thor demanded when he saw the pair of you.

    “I don’t know,” Loki admitted. “Someone broke into Y/N’s suite, stabbed the illusion I left in her bed multiple times it looks like, and knocked out the guards on this floor. The dragon has him,”

    Thor looked concerned. “Why would anyone wish to harm your lady?” he asked.

    “We’re all going to go find out,” Loki snarled. He looked at you and kissed you. “Thank the norns for your bad feeling. He may have killed you had you slept in your own room,” he pulled you tighter to him and kissed the top of your head.

    Thor rushes to one of the guards to rouse him and soon an alarm is blaring through the palace. “I would tell you to go somewhere safe, but that would be a waste of breath, plus I know you’re safe with me,” Loki told you softly.

    “Plus I am a capable warrior and a witch and can protect myself?” you reminded him.

    “That too,” he admitted. “Though do be careful,” he bid you and kissed the top of your head. “Shall we go see what the creature your lovely dragon is holding down wanted?” he asked too pleasantly. His questioning was going to be brutal.

    “Loki...” you warned. He couldn’t just _torture_ people.

    “He tried to hurt what is mine,” Loki snarled and kissed the top of your head again, reassuring himself that you were here and safe. “But he will live so the Allfather may question him as well,” he reassured you in a manner that wasn’t quite reassuring. “And the Allfather will not be pleased that a citizen of Asgard, especially a noble living under his roof, under his protection was attacked in the palace,” he continued at your confused expression on why he would care. “There are many nobles whose daughters reside at the palace, for education, court polish, some serve as ladies in waiting, they’re here under the protection of the throne. If the insult of one of the court ladies being attacked is allowed to go unanswered, it would look poorly on the Allfather and his ability to keep the others safe. He won’t allow that,” Loki explained as he walked with you back to his suite. He still led. Even though he knew you were perfectly capable of defending yourself, he was still taking point.

    Sera was still standing on her captive while they squirmed under her, trying to get out from under her weight. Unfortunately, he was currently trapped under a dragon and squirming wasn’t enough to help him. “Sera, let him up a little. We need to talk to him,” you bid the dragon, knowing she wouldn’t listen to anyone else, even Loki.

    “He will run,” Sera snarled.

    “He won’t run. If he runs, you can eat him,” you told her. The male paled. “He’s not dumb enough to get eaten,” you explained quite logically.

    Sera nodded. “Very well,” she looked down at her charge. “If you run. I will eat you,” she informed him firmly before she let him up. He looked like he wanted to bolt, and you didn’t really blame him, but one look at Sera’s sharp teeth and he held up his hands in surrender. Sera would catch him and eat him.

    “Why did you sneak in to my lady’s chambers?” Loki demanded, dagger drawn. The man dropped to one knee, hand over his heart in a warrior’s bow.

    “My Prince, this _Midgardian_ ,” the word he used was not a very polite one. “Is not worthy of your attentions. There are many proper Asgardian ladies who would be a much better match for a member of the royal family!” the man bid Loki urgently.

    “So you try to kill my lady out a misguided attempt to what, put your daughter in my path?” Loki demands, guessing the man’s true motives.

    “My darling Delia would indeed be a better match than this...” he paused when Sera snarled at him.

    “My lady is a citizen of Asgard, and a _hertuginne_. Neither of those things matter. She is my love and the woman I have chosen of all of the ladies in all nine realms. Your threat against her was foolish,” Loki informed him icily. “Let the Einherjar take you for further questioning, or I shall the let the dragon eat you,” he snarled at the man. He would have killed the man himself had he not wanted him questioned further by Odin, had he not wanted the throne protected, and this man very publicly punished to show all of the others that no one would allow such a thing. The man raised his hands in surrender and let the guards take him away, glaring at you as he went. Loki wrapped his arm around your shoulders while Sera licked her lips and snarled at the man. “Don’t fret, Sera. The guard and king will take care of that man,” Loki bid the dragon. “And it will last much longer than you eating him,”

    She nods and shifts back to her usual cat dragon form to snuggle in your arms and prove to herself that you were ok. You had to stay up a lot later answering questions from Odin and Frigga and proving to everyone that you were ok. You hadn’t even been in the bed when the attacker came. It was nearly dawn before you could fall back into bed for a couple more hours of sleep before you had to leave for home.


	32. Chapter 32

    You all got up early the next morning to head back to Earth. None of you had had nearly enough sleep, but no one was inclined to try to get more sleep either. So you, Thor, Loki, and Sera perched on your shoulder, made your way down to the great hall. You were all only slightly surprised to see Frigga there drinking tea. She looked up at your group and gave you a smile. “Couldn’t sleep either, darlings?” she asked you gently as you all sat at the table with her.

    “No, none of us could get back to sleep properly after the excitement,” Loki agreed after he’d kissed her cheek. “We decided it was best to get an early start back to Midgard,” he explained as more tea and breakfast were brought out to you by the servants. You all ate in near silence, no one was very awake that morning. Except Sera who looked immensely proud of herself and ate everything in sight. The boys hugged their mother goodbye and kissed her cheek, promising to visit again soon.

    She came over to you and kissed your cheek as well. “Darling, you’re a citizen of Asgard here. You’ll always have a home here and you’re welcome anytime, with or without my sons. I _was_ going to make sure you had a trinket from Asgard to take with you so Heimdall could find you anytime you wish to return to Asgard, but your jewel will work for that purpose,” Frigga reassured you. “Anytime you wish to return, just call to Heimdall and he will bring you,” she added so warmly and gently.

    “Thank you, your highness,” you told her warmly. It still hadn’t quite sunk in that you were _actually_ a citizen of Asgard, much less that you were nobility. It seemed too much to be real. After the goodbyes were said, Loki wrapped his arm around you and clasped his other hand on Thor’s shoulder.

    “I know you hate teleporting, but I do not feel much like riding this morning,” Loki told him and an instant later you were in the Bifrost room.

    “You know I hate it when you do that,” Thor growled at Loki who just laughed at his brother’s misfortune and slightly green face. “But I agree that getting back to the others sooner rather than later is a good idea,”

    “We’ve been gone too long,” you agreed. You’d left the team to deal with the aftermath of the witch hunters without you. Granted, you’d been in no shape to deal with them yourself, but you still felt bad for hiding on Asgard relatively safely while the team was dealing with the people after you.

    Thor nodded. “Let’s go, then,” he bid you. You plucked Sera off your shoulder and cradled her in your arms, cuddling her safely to you.

    “The Bifrost is dangerous, little one,” you told her as you held her firmly to you. Loki had warned you as much. She had squeaked in indignation at being held so tightly. “I don’t want anything to happen to you,” you reassured her. She calmed, then and nuzzled your cheek, purring softly. Loki wrapped his arm firmly around your shoulders and Heimdall opened the Bifrost. You held on to Loki with one arm and kept the other firmly around Sera.

    “I do not wish to lose you either, and I doubt you remember much of you last trip by Bifrost,” Loki reminded you that you’d been drugged and barely awake your first trip by Bifrost. You entered the Bifrost and the rainbow lights surrounded you with a weird sensation of controlled falling. You landed hard with a stumble right outside of the tower.

    Much as you loved Asgard and all of its beauty, it was great to be home. Loki’s arm remained firmly around your shoulders and you felt his fear. It took you a moment to realize that he was afraid you’d be attacked the second you got home. You wanted to reassure him, but you didn’t know how without lying to him. You didn’t know what the witch hunters were really up to or why and you hoped the team had more answers than you did. Loki ushered you inside as fast as he could. He trusted your safety in the tower, especially since the team was supposed to be enhancing security.

    “I’m alright, Lokitty,” you reassured him as you let him herd you inside.

    “I feel better with you inside the tower until we know what’s going on with those people who were after you,” Loki reminded you. Before you could protest he added. “I know you can protect yourself, but I’m allowed to worry, they hurt you quite badly, darling.” You couldn’t fault him on that one. Still, even with everything going on, you were home.

    You made your way up to the common room with your boys and you companion in your arms. She was taking everything in with wide-eyed excitement. She’d seen the tower in your memories, but it was new and different for her to see it for real. The team jumped up from their various couches to greet you when you returned. They were all happy and excited to see you alive and well. They’d been worried too.

    They stopped short when they saw that you were cuddling something in your arms. Sera’s wings were folded against her back, so they weren’t super obvious at the moment. “You found a new familiar?” Nat asked brightly when she recognized the cuddled thing as a cat.

    You nodded. “This is Sera. She chose me in Asgard,” you told them. Sera squirmed out of your arms and fluttered, looking over your friends from a higher vantage point.

    “What is _that_?” Tony demanded, staring at the fluttering cat-dragon.

    “A cat?” you tried.

    “That is _not_ a cat!” Tony protested. The others seemed to agree with him.

    “Sera, can you shift back to your real form?” you asked the little cat-dragon. Her magic shimmered and suddenly she was a Toothless-sized dragon in the living room. She bumped her head against your hand and you petted her scales.

    “That... is a dragon” Tony said stupidly.

    “Yes, she is,” you cooed fondly. “And such a good dragon she is too,” you continued cooing and hugged your dragon around the neck while Loki chuckled at the team’s confusion.


	33. Chapter 33

    “Your new familiar is a dragon?” Clint demanded, staring at Sera in shock

    “There are _dragons_ on Asgard?” Tony demanded of Loki and Thor at nearly the same time. The looks of incredulity on the team’s faces was amazing and you wished you had taken pictures. You weren’t surprised that the humans were so surprised at seeing a dragon. They’d never seen one before.

    “Obviously,” Loki replied in the exact voice of one Severus Snape. You smirked over at him and he grinned at you, pleased you’d caught the reference.

    “There’s a _dragon_ in my living room!” Tony tried again to make his point clear, as if you didn’t understand why he was confused. You rolled your eyes.

    “Yes. I am a dragon,” Sera told them all carefully, speaking slowly as if to make sure her words were clearly enunciated and understood. “Soul sister, why do they not like me?” her ‘s’s came out sibilant when she spoke aloud.

    “They will love you, Sera. They’re just human and foolish. They’ve never seen a dragon before. Dragons don’t exist on Midgard, on earth,” you explained to her and petted her nose reassuringly. “I swear they’ll love you,” you reassured her while giving a hopeful look to the team that they better not make your dragon cry. They wouldn’t like the results if they made your familiar sad.

    “Oh. Well if they have never seen a dragon before, of course the foolish humans are confused,” Sera agreed happily once she understood the problem. She laid down in the middle of the living room. “They may pet me and see a dragon up close. I will not bite your friends,” she added graciously. You laughed and sat on the ground your back braced against her side. She gave her musical trilling purr and shifted so you’d be as comfortable as possible.

    Nat was the first one to be brave and made her way over to pet the dragon. She was cooing over the dragon about thirty seconds later, which seemed to reassure the others that the dragon was perfectly safe to carefully pet and investigate. Sera kept her word and didn’t bite your friends. She purred when they petted her and submitted to letting Tony look at her wings and teeth and study her. At least she was until he poked her too hard and she yelped and gripped him in her teeth gently enough not to actually hurt him and casually tossed him out the window before she huffed and settled back to lying down.

    No one seemed too concerned about Tony getting tossed out of the window. Except Tony of course. “Did she actually know it was safe to do that?” Tony demanded of you, grumpy not that he’d been thrown out the window, but for the fact that the dragon may not have known it was safe to do so.

    “I did,” Sera replied with a malicious hint to her tone. She didn’t like that Tony spoke to you like she didn’t understand him.

    “Sorry,” Tony told her and she purred her chiming purr. She was pleased with herself for teaching something to the foolish human. It seemed she’d decided that since they were so foolish, she would just have to teach them. It didn’t matter that she was only a few days old. Dragons were remarkable creatures.

    You stood again from the dragon and petted the top of her head when she looked at you confused for moving. “Sorry, Sera. Sitting on the floor is only comfortable for so long,” you explained. She made a happy trill, seeming glad that you were taking care of yourself. You turned to your usual couch and saw Loki sitting there.

    You couldn’t help your wide, excited grin when you saw his cat-ears and tail were back. It was completely illogical. You _knew_ they weren’t part of his natural form, or his natural illusioned form to be more specific, since his natural form was technically his Jotun one. It made you happy to see them regardless. You’d fallen in love with Lokitty and missed his cat-ears when they weren’t around. It was illogical and silly, but they were _adorable_. You went to him and scratched behind his cat-ears, cooing excitedly over him in this form just as you’d done so often over over the cat.

    He chuckled and pulled you down onto the couch next to him. “Yes, they’re back, darling. You love them so and we’re not on Asgard where I must keep up appearances,” he told you warmly. You smiled up at him and kissed his cheek.

    “I love you too,” you told him simply. It warmed your heart that he’d do this just because it made you happy.

    Sera got tired of being examined by the team, even though Nat was still cooing over her in Russian, and shifted back to her cat-dragon form and fluttered into your arms to curl herself in your lap. You hugged her to you before she settled herself comfortably and started purring as you petted her.

    “How was Asgard?” Nat asked you as the team settled onto the various couches and chairs around the living room.

    “How’s Pepper?” you countered before you answered. You needed to know what had happened after Loki rescued you.

    She laughed and you relaxed. She wouldn’t laugh if Pepper had been hurt. “Pepper’s fine. She got out without a scratch thanks to you and Loki. You’re the one who took all of the damage. They were after you, after all,” she explained.

    You leaned forward, needing to hear more. “Did you guys find out anything about the witch hunters?” you asked urgently. They’d hurt you and attacked you and Pepper and you didn’t know why. You needed to know why they were after you.

    “Not much,” Cap admits. “The one we captured escaped from the holding cell. We’re just glad we didn’t bring him here,”

    “He escaped?!” Loki demanded incredulously, his tail puffing up in anger. He had trusted the team to question the witch hunter while he got you to safety and healed.

    “They have magic, most of them anyway,” you told Loki gently. You knew at least some things about the witch hunters. Especially after what they’d done to your mom. You still didn’t know everything, especially about these renegades who seemed to be after you for some reason.

    Cap nodded. “The guy just vanished from the holding cell. Teleported like you two can,” he told you both. “We didn’t know he could do that or we would’ve figured out how to stop him...”

    “If they can teleport, how can we be sure they can’t get in here?” Clint asked, quite logically.

    You scoffed and rolled your eyes. “That was one of the first things I did when I moved into the tower was make sure witches and the like can’t just teleport in without permission. Loki and I can because we live here. It’s like the magic school or mom’s grave, everyone else has to teleport outside the warding and walk in like muggles,” you explained.

    “I did the same when I moved in as well. Any magical being who wishes to use magic to get past our defenses will be hard pressed to do it and even harder pressed to do it without us noticing,” Loki added. Between both of your wardings and Jarvis, any intruder would be hard pressed to get in the tower indeed.

    “We increased the security on the tower until we know more. No one’s getting in without proper clearance, the same with Stark Industries,” Tony told you, reassuringly. “Nor am I hosting any parties here until we know you’re not in danger anymore,”

    “The headmistress of the magic school contacted us too to reassure you that the defenses on the school have been increased so you don’t have to worry about your safety there, either,” Nat added a touch too casually.

    “Plus we now have a dragon in residence,” Clint threw in with a glance at the purring cat-dragon in your lap. He was still impressed over said dragon, who preened in your arms.

    They were trying too hard to reassure you that you were safe. There had to be a reason behind it besides that you’d been attacked. Everyone in the tower had been attacked at one time or another. That wasn’t enough to cause this much of a reaction.

    The threat had to be serious to get them this scared over your safety.

    “Did you get _any_ information out of the witch hunter before he vanished?” you asked Cap, desperate to find out why you’d been targeted. You were labelled by the press as ‘America’s Sweetheart’. You were an Avenger and saved the world on at least a weekly basis. What could you have possibly done to earn their attack? You knew it was a real attack too, and not a proper arrest to be brought before the Witch’s Council. There would have been warnings, official documentation, requests for you to come in had you done anything to upset the Council. These hunters had been trying to kill you.

    “They want to kill you, whoever these witch hunters are,” Cap said gently, as if trying not to scare you. You knew that already. You needed new information.

    “Why? I haven’t done anything!”

    “Because of him-” Tony blurted out, pointing at Loki.


	34. Chapter 34

    “How is it _my_ fault they are after her? I have done nothing to them, or any of the Midgardians recently,” Loki growled, an actual growl and his tail puffed up in anger. “And the last time I did it was _mind control_ ,” he grumbled. He hated any idea that you were in danger because of him, especially when it wasn’t even deserved.

    Nat was unphased by Loki’s growls or his puffed up tail. Loki pulled you closer to him on the couch, determined to protect you though the threat wasn’t here. You reached up automatically to pet his hair to soothe him. “They think you’re being corrupted by, in their words, an ‘evil sorcerer’,” Nat explained.

    It was your turn to glare. “Loki has done nothing but help the team since he’s been back. And like he said, the alien attack doesn’t count. It was mind control and that’s been made perfectly clear,” you protested, determined to defend your Lokitty.

    “ _We_ know that,” Nat reassured you quickly. “It doesn’t make them less stupid,”

    “It does not make sense,” Thor protested. “Why attack Lady Y/N for my brother’s actions, even if they _were_ his fault?”

    You sighed heavily and cuddled the cat-dragon in your lap, soothing yourself more than anything. “They never have made sense,” you told them softly. “Rogue witch hunters are the ones who killed my mom with no provocation,” you started to explain. You looked down when you realized that all their eyes were on you and petted Sera as you spoke. They needed more answers now that the witch hunters had become their problem too. “Witch hunters are semi official professionals. They range between bounty hunters and magical police. Most of them are barely more than squibs, those born from magical families with no magical ability of their own. Actual squibs go to live as muggles.” You absolutely loved how prevalent Harry Potter was in society, it made explanations such as these easier when you could use terms that everyone was already familiar with thanks to those books and movies. “There are some with just enough power to use the magical items crafted for the witch hunters to use when capturing their bounties. Those kind of people are also usually really against those of us with real power and more likely to go rogue. That’s what happened to mom, and I think that’s what’s happening here. Had I done something to actually _deserve_ getting called before the Witch’s Council, they would have sent official messages calling me before them. They would have contacted the academy where I work. There would have been a _lot_ of things done before they sent proper witch hunters after me. These have to be rogues,” you told them. They all sat in silence for a long minute digesting that information.

    Nat recovered first. “We’ve got your usual haunts secured, and I’m sure Loki and Sera will keep you safe. Just be careful,” she told you.

    “I will be,” you reassured them all. “Trust me, I don’t want to mess with witch hunters any more than I have to,”

    “She will be,” Loki added quickly and pulled you tighter against him.

    You sighed and rolled your eyes. “Yes, silly Lokitty, I just said that,” you told him overly patiently.

    He kissed the top of your head. “I love you. I’m allowed to worry,” he reminded you warmly, though you could hear the touch of worry in his voice.

    “I love you too,” you told him and kissed his cheek. You pulled out your phone to tell the headmistress and Strange that you were home and perfectly ok. They both asked for you to stop by the next day and you agreed, quick to reassure them.

    “So what’s with the rock on the back of your hand?” Stark asked. Trust Stark to be blunt.

    “It’s a magical artifact known as a focus. I don’t know all of the properties yet, but it’s a reservoir for power,” you explained to them. They accepted that answer and you knew you’d be spending the rest of the day with the books Frigga had given you so you could learn more about your new magical toy.

    You, Loki, and Thor had to tell the team all about your adventures on Asgard, and about how you were an Asgardian citizen now for saving the queen’s life. And how you were not only a citizen, but a noble. A lot had happened over your few days in Asgard. There were gasps and uproars over the fact that you were an Asgardian noble. No one seemed able to comprehend it better than you were.

    And so you did spend the rest of the day curled up with Loki reading more about the focus and how to use it. It had chosen you for a reason and you knew it had to be important, whatever it was.

    *

    The next morning you went down to breakfast to find Lokitty waiting for you, already dressed in his teacher’s robes. And looking really attractive while wearing them. Even with his cat-ears. You kissed the top of his head between his cat-ears. He smirked up at you and stole a real kiss. You kissed him back happily. “Silly Lokitty,” you teased and scratched behind his cat-ears.

    “Barton made French Toast,” Loki told you happily. The boy loved his sweet breakfasts. You smiled and kissed him again.

    “Lucky us,” you replied and settled Sera on your shoulder as opposed to being held in your arms. Clint handed you your plate as soon as you entered the kitchen. He also had an entire tuna for Sera, which she basically ate whole. And purred and shamelessly begged Clint for another one. Which he gladly handed over before she decided to eat him instead. Smart man.

    After breakfast you teleported yourself, Loki, and Sera to the academy. Sera stayed perched on your shoulder and looked around at everything with curiosity. “These are magic students?” she asked.

    “Yes. They come here so we can teach them magic,” you told her as you placed your hand automatically on Loki’s arm to let him escort you to your classroom.

    The headmistress did a double-take when she saw you, well more accurately when she saw Sera. “Your new familiar is a _dragon_?” she asked you incredulously. Sera puffed up, obviously expecting the magic people to be smarter than the normal humans.

    “She is. This is Seraphina. She chose me while we were on Asgard,” you explained, reaching up a hand to pet the puffed up cat-dragon.

    The headmistress turned to address Sera directly. “I didn’t mean to offend you. We haven’t seen a living dragon in a millennia,” she told the dragon. “It’s an honor to see one again.” She looked like she wanted to say more, but wouldn’t do so in front of the dragon. “I’m glad to see you’re ok,” she told you. “The Avengers told me what happened. I assure you we’ve gotten no official requests for your presence before the Witch’s Council. These are definitely rogues, but you’re safe in the school,”

    “Thank you, headmistress,” you told her and had to rush off to class to get there in time. You’d spent too much time talking with the headmistress.

    “Professor? Is that a new familiar?” your students asked quickly and excitedly once you had arrived and they had settled.

    “Yes, her name is Seraphina and she’s a dragon,” you told them while Loki perched on the edge of your desk looking sexy as hell in his teacher’s robes. And you could tell by his smirk that he knew it too. Damn Trickster was posing on purpose. “So what can you tell me about dragons?” you asked the class while Sera fluttered around investigating the students, occasionally leaving paw prints on their notes and demanding pets. The students listed off facts about the insanely strong magical creatures and Sera purred when they got things correct and usually went to lick the student in question as a reward for the correct answer. She hissed when they said something wrong. They weren’t going to forget that lesson anytime soon.

    At the end of the class she turned back into her full dragon form and allowed them to pet her.

    You taught a couple more classes that day with the same lesson and same format. There were also some stolen kisses with Loki between classes which he minded oh so much. As did the gossips who were the students. And the worse gossips who were the teachers. There were lots of whispers of ‘about time’ throughout the halls that day.

    After classes you went to the sanctum to see Doctor Strange. You opened the door and walked in without bothering to knock. “Hey Strange!” you called and he appeared in front of you a moment later.

    “Y/N, I’m glad you’re alright. I heard about the attack,” he greeted you warmly. His look at Loki was less cordial. “Loki,” he said with a barely polite head nod. Strange and Loki still didn’t see eye to eye, but they didn’t actively attack each other, so you let them be, unless things got worse. Strange looked at the cat on your shoulder. “Finally found a new familiar?” he asked, before Sera fluttered off of your shoulder to look at him more closely. “What is _that_?” he demanded.

    “A cat?” you tried.

    He glared at you. “That is _not_ a cat,”

    “Really? She looks like one,” you replied innocently. He glared at you. You sighed and rolled your eyes. “Fine. She’s a dragon, named Seraphina. Don’t upset her. Tell her she’s pretty and she might even let you pet her,” you told him.

    “A... dragon?” Strange asked, flabbergasted. He recovered quickly, however and didn’t upset Sera. She was getting used to the foolish humans being confused at first. “She is quite lovely,” he finally said and appeased the dragon, who happily changed forms again to let Strange study and pet her. Mostly pet, though Strange got a lot of up close studying of a dragon in exchange.


	35. Chapter 35

    Life at the Avenger’s Tower went back to as normal as it ever did. Loki and Sera went with you nearly everywhere. They both went with you on days you went to teach at the magic school. Loki’s presence there was welcome; he was great with the kids and a surprisingly good teacher. The kids also respected that he was a god and being taught by him was an honor and were on their best behavior.

    The school also loved seeing Sera. It had been centuries since anyone had seen a dragon in America, and even if she did usually spend her time in cat-dragon form, they were pleased to see her. She even consented to showing off her abilities for them, especially if they bribed her with with fishes. She lit up in delight when anyone offered her a fish, especially if it was an entire fish she could have for herself. The day the headmistress offered her sushi was probably her happiest day ever. Professor Nakayama became one of her favorite people, since she, like Loki, wore cat-ears all the time, and that made her a good person in the cat-dragon’s book.

    Loki didn’t go with you to Stark Industries, though, he wasn’t _exactly_ welcome there. Stark allowed him for the first couple of weeks after you’d been home, and Loki had _tried_ to be on his best behavior. But Loki got bored easily and annoying the employees was too easy and he got kicked out after he made gravity disappear in the building one day. So he was only allowed back if they really thought you were in danger.

    The witch hunters had been quiet since your return from Asgard. You weren’t sure if they had given up, or were just biding their time until the defenses dropped. The team wasn’t taking chances with your safety, though, and you had a dragon as a constant companion. You were perfectly safe.

    You usually left Sera at home when you went on missions, though. You always had Loki with you and as your partner, so it wasn’t necessary to bring Sera and you didn’t want to put her in undo danger. It didn’t matter that she was a dragon and perfectly capable of defending herself. You didn’t like taking her, or any familiar you’d ever had, into danger and avoided it whenever you could.

    About a month after you’d gotten back from Asgard, right before Christmas you went out to visit your mom before you got tied up in the holiday celebrations. She would understand when you didn’t come visit on Christmas itself, but it was rude not to come see her at all. Besides, you were returning to Asgard for a week or so during Christmas while the rest of the tower was empty. You took Loki and Sera with you.

    “ _Must_ we fly?” Loki whined when you were up on the roof getting your broom.

    “Yes, we must,” you replied. “Don’t know what you’re whining about, Lokitty, I’m the one who has to do all the work,” you reminded him and mounted your broom. Sera hopped up to perch on the edge of the handle, much like Jiji in Kiki’s Delivery Service. You knew you shouldn’t have let her watch that movie with you, but if she fell off at least she could fly. Unlike the Lokitty who hopped grumpily into your lap and burrowed there. You unzipped your coat cuddled him to your chest, and zipped him inside so only his little head was peeking out. “There, you’re safe,” you told him warmly. He made a soft noise in agreement and you flew off the top of the tower, cradling him to your chest with one hand. He still made an indignant noise and huddled closer to you as you dove down to fly at a lower level while Sera trilled in delight. You stopped by the flower shop and Loki turned back while you went in to speak with Grandmother Helene.

    She looked at Sera on your shoulder. “Oh, a dragon has chosen to be your familiar? How rare,” she cooed over the dragon and Sera preened at the attention.

    “This human is smart, I like her,” Sera informed you brightly.

    You laughed. “Grandmother Helene is very wise indeed. She is also very kind,” you told Sera warmly. She trilled in happiness and fluttered over to Grandmother Helene to allow the old witch the honor of petting her. Or at least Sera thought it was an honor for Helene to be allowed to pet her. Helene laughed and happily pet the dragon.

    She looked over at Loki. “And you’re taking proper care of our girl?” she asked him sternly. “I heard there was trouble with those nasty hunters,”

    “Yes ma’am,” Loki replied as polite as ever. “I love Y/N and wish for nothing more than her to be safe and happy,” he reassured her. She patted his cheek.

    “Good boy,” she told him fondly, and somehow he didn’t take offense at that. He liked Grandmother Helene and her caring doting.

    You had to practically drag Sera away from Grandmother Helene, reminding her that you had things to do that day. She pouted, but wanted to meet you mother, so she finally left Grandmother Helene and fluttered back to your shoulder. After you had your flowers, you continued on your way to your mother’s grave. You dismounted and Loki turned back to normal so you could both kneel beside her grave.

    “Hi mom,” you told her as you laid the flowers down. “Grandmother Helene says hello as always. I was chosen by a new familiar. Her name is Seraphina and she’s a dragon. She chose me on Asgard,” you proceeded to tell her all about your adventures on Asgard, sitting in the grass in front of her grave, insisting to yourself that she could hear you. You spent a long time talking to her with Sera in your lap and Loki sitting in the grass beside you. A lot had happened since you saw her last.

    You were interrupted when Jarvis announced an emergency downtown and you were needed immediately. “Sorry, mom, we have to go. I’ll come visit as soon as I can,” you told her as you jumped to your feet, your battle armor shimmering into place as you did. You took your broom and slapped it against your wrist, where it obediently curled itself around, hiding as a bracelet as your wand always did.

    “Sera, are you up to flying us in?” you asked the dragon. You were nervous to bring her in on a mission, but it was safer to bring her with you since she was already out. She wouldn’t go home while you were in danger, unless she wasn’t up to going with you. In answer, she transformed into her full dragon form.

    Loki groaned, knowing exactly what was coming. “Darling, darling no. This is a terrible awful idea,” he whined at you, his tail puffing up in distress.

    You ignored him and raised a hand to the comm in your ear. “We’re on our way. Travelling by dragon. We’ll be there soon,” you told the team and swung gracefully onto Sera’s back. “Loki, I’m not going to let anything happen to you. You know it’s dangerous for us to teleport into battle. Flying on dragon-back is faster than flying on broom,” you reminded him. He sighed.

    “I know. I just really hate flying,” he grumbled and took the hand you reached down for him and swung himself up behind you on Sera’s back. His arms were tight around you as his only indication that he was afraid of what was about to happen.

    “Come on Sera, show us the meaning of haste,” you needed another line, but you couldn’t help quoting Lord of the Rings. Sera lit up in delight and took a few running steps, unfurling her wings as she did. She gathered herself and leapt into the sky. The additional weight of Loki seemed to be no hindrance to her as she barreled through the skies. You knew your weight was nothing to her and it was good having two passengers didn’t slow her down any.

    She flew far faster than your broom could manage. “Fly lower, Sera,” you told her as she approached the battle. The crowd of bystanders and the team and attackers all looked up as the dragon flew over the battle. A jet black dragon flying over New York instilled fear in the hearts of the attackers and the monsters tried to flee.

    They were doomed the second you arrived.

    Well, the second Sera arrived anyway. For these were ice monsters and she was a dragon. A few bursts of flame from the dragon and the ice monsters were defeated. The men controlling them tried to flee, but between Sera and the team, they were soon sat on by the dragon until Shield came to take them away.

    For some strange reason the bad guys were fairly quiet after that extremely short battle. None of them appeared to want to take on a _dragon_.

    Finally the bad guys had some common sense.


	36. Chapter 36

    The team decided to celebrate Christmas together on Christmas Adam, since everyone was leaving Christmas Eve to spend the holiday with their other friends and families. You and the Asgaridans were going back to Asgard in the morning to spend Yule there. You were still giving the boys their presents tonight with the rest of the team’s.

    You spent the morning making cookies with the ‘help’ of Sera and Lokitty. Neither of them were helpful. At all. Until you gave them a batch of brownie batter to share and leave you alone while they ate it. They thought that was very helpful. At least they were out of your way after that. They others came through and added their own cookie recipes and soon the entire common floor of the tower was filled with cookies. Clint made homemade hot chocolate for his contribution and had both a cat-dragon and a Loki bothering him the entire time he made it, both wanting to know what it was and why it smelled so good and begging him to let them taste it.

    “Y/N, save me!” Clint begged you.

    You just laughed. “Not a chance. They were bothering me all morning. It’s your turn,” you teased him in reply. He rolled his eyes and dealt with his annoying ‘help’. Loki promised he could help. Clint almost lost the entire batch of hot chocolate by taking the god up on his offer. It was only through quick thinking and recalculation that it was saved.

    After all the snacks were made, the entire team sat around the tree in their pajamas with plated piled high with cookies and mugs of hot chocolate. It was silly and ridiculous and perfect. You passed out your squashy presents to everyone and lit up when they pulled out their handmade scarves and cooed over them and received lots of comments about how awesome the scarves were. Nat got everyone her, apparently, traditional scrapbooks of pictures of the team throughout the year. The rule was no one was allowed to ask here _where_ she had gotten the pictures. Stark upgraded everyone’s phones for the year. Thor gave everyone weapons; he gave you a slim blade that apparently the noble ladies on Asgard carried. Loki cooed over the dagger’s quality and if Loki approved of a dagger you could be sure it was of excellent quality. You gave Sera a green ribbon that tied into a bow at the back. It would stay with her as a necklace when she changed forms. She cooed over it and nuzzled you in thanks for the gift.

    Loki gave you a beautiful black stoned necklace in a gold setting. It matched the magical gem in the handflower on the back of your hand perfectly. “It’s beautiful,” you told Loki as he clasped it around your neck. You leaned over at kissed his cheek.

    “Not nearly as beautiful as you, my love,” he told you and kissed you to the cheers of the rest of the team. They were getting silly, even though the hot chocolate wasn't spiked. That you knew of.

    After the presents were opened, you spent the rest of the evening curled up with Loki in the company of the team watching Christmas movies together until you all had to go to bed.

    *

    You spent a couple weeks in Asgard visiting. There were dances every night and a huge Yule celebration. Frigga was as happy to see Loki as ever and she and Odin both loved you. Odin had taken awhile to come around, but he had. You had weapons training with Sif in the mornings and she showed you some tricks for the blade Thor had gifted you for Christmas. Loki helped too. He wanted to make sure you were well prepared to defend yourself with more than magic if necessary.

    You also spent a few afternoons flying with Sera. She hated not being able to fly as often as she liked on Midgard and was taking the opportunity to fly across Asgard with you and a very unhappy Loki on her back.

    Before you left Asgard, Frigga passed Loki a small box and kissed his cheek. “I have a feeling that will come in handy as some point in the near future, my son,” she told him brightly.

    He flushed when he opened the box and shut it quickly without letting you see what was inside. Especially as you weren’t really supposed to see the interaction. You and Thor were already at the entrance to the Bifrost and just waiting for Loki to finish his goodbyes to Frigga.

    *

    Things remained quiet back on Earth. Hydra and the witch hunters had seemed to have given up in the face of a dragon.

    Or so you thought.

    It was the middle of summer before anything happened. You had to go out to the store and decided to go after you got out of classes for the day. You had left your Loki at home that day. The heat was killing him and he couldn’t be outside very long without a huge drain on his magic. Frost Giants didn’t do well in the heat, and Loki was no exception to that. So you left him in the nice air conditioned tower and promised to be home soon. You left Sera at home to keep an eye on Loki. You didn’t trust him in this heat wave, even in the air conditioning and Sera would look after him and call you if she needed help with your frost giant. He swore up and down that he’d be ok, but he was lethargic even in the air conditioning and you were worried about him.

    You rode your broom from the school to the store to get some specialty potion ingredients they didn’t keep at the school. You’d found an old spell book with a cooling potion and thought it might help. You just had to find the ingredients, which is what led you to the wizardry shop.

    “Greetings, Sister,” one of the shopkeepers greeted you at the door. You didn’t recognize him, but that wasn’t terribly surprising. You didn’t come here often since you could get most of your supplies at the school. “Would you care for a lavender cookie?” he asked, which is when you noticed the basket of cookies he was carrying. That was one of the perks to coming to this particular store. The lavender cookies were to die for.

    You couldn’t help lighting up in delight. “I would, thank you!” you replied brightly. He gave you a warm smile and handed over one of the cookies in a napkin. You noticed that he had a tattoo on his hand, but couldn’t make out what it was since he was hiding it under an illusion. Once you realized it was an illusion you pointedly stopped looking at it. It was rude to try to see through his illusion and he probably just had to hide it for his job.

    You ate your cookie as you wandered the store and made a note to yourself to buy some for Loki. You hadn’t been able to get him to eat more than ice cream in the last two days. Maybe you could bribe him with cookies to eat something. Your Lokitty loved his sweets. You tracked down all the potion ingredients and a dozen lavender cookies to take home to Loki.

    You found yourself yawning as you wandered the store and nothing sounded as nice as a nap cuddled up with your dragon and your Lokitty. You wondered where that came from; you’d slept the previous night and hadn’t even done a lot of magic recently. You made your purchases and touched the jewel on the back of your hand with your mind, tapping the reservoir of power there. And noticing it was empty. It shouldn't be empty. You shouldn’t be running low on power.

    Something was wrong.

    You had to get home now.

    You tried to teleport, but just didn’t have the power for it.

    You tried to contact Loki or Sera, but couldn’t even manage that little spell.

    You had to get home.

    Now.

    You weren't even thinking clearly enough to call home with your phone.

    Instead you walked out of the shop, and directly into a pair of Witch Hunters. You could tell by their formal official robes and the tattoos on their hands. The man in the shop, he was working for them. The cookie must’ve been laced. They grabbed you by your arms and cuffed your hands in front of you before you could do anything. “You are under arrest for corruption of magic and breaking the statute of secrecy. You will come with us to present yourself before the Witch’s Council,” they told you formally.

    You couldn’t form words to protest before they disappeared with you to who knows where.


	37. Chapter 37

You reappeared dazed and disoriented in a courtroom, standing in front of a tribunal, three wizards or witches dressed in black robes their faces covered in masks. While you were still loopy from the cookies, you were shoved into a sturdy straight-backed wooden chair with arms. Your wrists were secured with the manacles attached to the chair.

Your brain was becoming less confused, which was good, however your magic was still affected by whatever was in those cookies. You were going to let Sera eat that shopkeeper when you got out of this mess.

You _were_ going to get out of this mess.

There was no reason for you to be brought before the Witch’s Council, nor had you received any official summons. This was bullshit and you knew it.

“Witch Y/N, you have been brought up on charges of Corruption of Magic and-” the black-robed tribunal member in the middle started. You tuned him out for a moment, taking in your surroundings.

This wasn’t the Witch’s Council. Nor the Council chambers. You’d been there before. This was a really well done replica. But this wasn’t the real council chambers and more importantly, this wasn’t the real council.

“You’re not the Council,” you informed them. You were pressing the subject now before they quickly justified your death at this farce of a trial. You needed to stall them for time. Loki and Sera would notice your absence soon when you took too long to return from the store. Both of them could track and find you. Both of them could reach you telepathically even if you didn’t have the power to reach them.

You just needed to stall for time for them to realize you were in trouble.

Or until the drugs cleared your system and you got your powers back.

You didn’t much care which as long as you survived this confrontation with the witch hunters.

The fake council looked shocked at your words. They were used to acquiring lower level witches in their schemes, it seemed. You wondered why they were risking so much targeting you when you were one of the most powerful witches alive. “I told you we should have just killed this one,” the one in the middle told his compatriots.

“Who are you? What do you want from me? Why are you doing this?” you demanded before they could get too attached to that train of thought. You needed to keep them distracted from killing you as long as possible. You were chained to a chair without your powers. You needed them to not kill you.

So you had to get them monologing.

Rule #1 of being a superhero, when you’re held captive by the villains, get them monologing as soon as possible while you think of a way to escape. It was a great strategy and would buy you the time you needed.

Predictably, they fell for it and started talking. You didn’t even pay attention to which one was talking. You needed to know who they were, what they wanted, and best of all, how to get out of here. “It usually takes much longer before you witches figure out we’re not the real council. They spill their guts and sell their souls to us, binding themselves so tightly to our mission that they can’t break free, before they’d even realized that we weren’t their precious council,” they laughed.

“Then who are you?” you demanded, glaring up at them. Damn, these guys were defective villains if you had to keep prompting them to continue their monologing.

“Our organization’s name has changed over the centuries. In this age, we are known as the Brotherhood of Salem,” you tried so very hard not to roll your eyes at that lame ass name. Really, it was awful. They couldn’t come up with a better name than that? Seriously, that was just lazy writing on the part of whoever was leading this stupid organization. “Our goal hasn’t changed, though. Our goal is simple: to eradicate all the witches,”

That shook you and you just stared up at him with open mouth.

“But... why?” you asked stupidly. “That makes _no_ sense. Witches don’t cause harm. It’s against our very laws:

Bide the Wiccans laws ye must, 

In perfect love and perfect trust.

Live and let live, 

Fairly take and fairly give. 

Mind the three-fold law ye should, 

Three times bad and three times good. 

Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill: 

An it harm none, do as ye will”

You recited the creed to them. Really, you would say and do anything to continue stalling and keep buying time. The more time you bought the more likely you were to get out of this mess.

“Witches are an unnatural blight upon the world. Their abilities are supernatural and they need to be eliminated,” they recited as if a mantra they had memorized.

You rolled your eyes. “Really? That is the dumbest reason ever,” you informed them. “Witches are caretakers of this realm. We tend the earth, help her grow, we guard against the demons and creatures of darkness. We protect the humans. For fuck’s sake I’m one of the Avengers!”

“You have already betrayed the witches,” they said. “You have broken their precious laws, their precious statute of secrecy. You cavort with a known super villain-”

“Loki is reformed! He was under mind control when he was made to attack New York. He has been working for the Avengers for over a year to make amends. I also have permission from the _real_ council to work for the Avengers and break the statute of secrecy for my work,” you told them firmly. Your magic was starting to come back, you could feel it again, you just needed to buy a little more time, and come up with a plan. “Killing me would be stupid. I’m one of the Avengers and “American’s Sweetheart” no one is going to believe I broke wizarding law to warrant an execution. So what do you want from me?” you demanded

/Loki? Sera? Can you hear me?/ You sent out the message, hoping you had enough power back after those cookies

/Love? Y/N! Are you alright?/ Loki thought back and you nearly sighed in relief.

/Soul Sister! We are coming!/

/I’m alright for now. Hurry! It’s the witch hunters! They’re rogues/ you bid them. You were relieved that they were on their way. You just had to hold out a little while longer.

“You are going to work for us, same as every other witch we bring here. They’re always so willing to trade the other witches for their lives. They don’t realize they have no choice once we place the tattoo,” they told you. You blanched. The shopkeeper hadn’t been working for them after all, at least not willingly. You saw his hesitation to act, saw him hide the tattoo on his hand. He had given you up to save himself from the witch hunters, willingly or no.

“No!” you told them firmly. You were out of time, you realized. You couldn’t let them put that tattoo on you, not when it would be infused with magic to make you do what they wanted. You couldn’t let that happen, so you were out of time.

You acted quickly and used magic to destroy the chair from under you, standing in the same movement and preparing for a fight. You drew your blade, thankful your mother had insisted you learn how to fight without magic. Your powers were too weak right now to , but you could still fight physically and with limited magic. So you fought as they swarmed you. Thankfully these men were mostly squibs, so even your limited magic was an asset.

So you whirled and fought in a dangerous blur of blade and magic bolts. Your magic flickered back out about halfway through the fight. You just didn’t have the power back yet. You fought with all of your skills, but started taking more and more heavy blows, bleeding from multiple wounds and you were pretty sure they had broken more than one bone. There were just too many of them.

They had you pinned to the ground, bleeding and injured. There were too many bodies of big strong men holding you and you heard the tattoo gun come to life.

You shrieked and struggled, but couldn’t win against them as they started drawing their symbol on your hand. There were tears streaming down your cheeks at the horrible sigil. You recognized it of course. It was the wizarding equivalent of a swastika. And it was permanently etched into your skin in bright black ink. It was a circle with a five pointed star in it and runes inside the blank spaces.

The wall burst open behind their fake tribunal desk. You looked up in relief when Sera flew in through the hole she made with a roar. Loki was on her back.

You were saved!


	38. Chapter 38

The room around you erupted into chaos when Sera arrived.The wall behind the fake tribunal exploded as she burst in.You looked up at her with relief in your eyes when you saw her and Loki on her back.She roared and fire burst from her mouth as she did. 

The witch hunters scrambled to get back to their feet from the explosions as they turned to face the dangers of the dragon and the angry god.Loki hopped down gracefully from Sera’s back and you worried over your love in the heat, especially the additional heat of the fire, but you realized that Sera had set the fire well.She had set it so the witch hunters who had captured you were trapped in the room, but there was a big open area around you that was safe from the fire. 

In the chaos of the witch hunters trying to organize themselves to fight a dragon, you struggled from under the men pinning you to the floor.You didn’t have to struggle long as Loki was there in an instant, hauling men off of you.“Stop them, Y/N!” One of the witch hunters ordered you and you felt the mark on your hand blaze. You growled and fought off the compulsion spells in the spelled tattoo, even as Loki pulled you to your feet.

“Darling? Are you alright?” Loki asked as he hugged you tightly to him.

“Compulsion spells,” you snarled through gritted teeth.

Loki cursed.“Can you-?”

“I’m fighting it, but I can’t fight the spells and the witch hunters at the same time.I’m sorry-” you mewed at him, hating being useless to the fight, but it was taking all your effort to fight the orders of the compulsion spells.You weren’t called the brightest witch of your age for no reason, and you used your magic to fight though the compulsion spells etched into your skin.It helped that the witch hunters weren’t full wizards.Had you been unprepared they may have been able to overpower your magic, but you’d known what they were up to and had fought against them.You were burning power at an alarming rate to do it, and you didn’t have that much to spare. 

“Nonsense, love, it’s impressive enough that you can fight the compulsions at all,” he told you gently. 

Sera roared after she ripped a man in half. 

You really didn’t need the image of a man being ripped in half by a dragon in your brain and yet it was there.And would stay there for eternity.

It was not a pleasant sight. 

The scent of burning bodies was also unpleasant and you would never forget the acrid scent that smelled like cooking ham.People should not smell like cooking ham. 

Loki pulled you away from the chaos and settled you in a chair at the edge of the chaos where you’d be safe and could focus on fighting the compulsions until the men were dead.After he looked you over to make sure you weren’t injured, he kissed your forehead and rushed into the battle to help Sera.

Not that she needed help.

She was doing really well roasting witch hunters alive.And eating them.And ripping them to pieces. 

Seriously, the sight of what the dragon did to those men should have had you puking, but you were in too much shock and too focused on not helping the enemy.Even Loki wasn’t that vicious in killing them, though he was just as angry and they ended up just as dead.

You sighed in relief when the last one died and the compulsion spell died with him.The mark was still on your hand, though, and these weren’t the only witch hunters.You weren’t completely free of them, but you _were_ free of this group.You stood from your chair and went to Loki and Sera.

You hugged Loki tightly.“You came for me,” you told him softly as his arms wrapped around you.

“Of course I did, my darling.I’m just sorry that I did not arrive sooner,” he said sadly as he lifted your hand to look at the mark there.You flushed at it.

“We’ll figure out how to get rid of it, and the compulsion spells in it. I somehow doubt that tattoo removal lasers are going to work…” You hugged Loki again before you turned to Sera.

You should’ve gone to her first.

She looked… feral… as she surveyed the carnage around her.She roared again, a sound of pain and anguish. Not at the carnage she caused, you realized, but at the fact that you’d been taken from her and harmed.

She didn’t feel like she had punished these people enough. 

Fuck

You took a step toward her, another.

“Sera? Sera, darling, it’s alright now.You saved me,” you told her gently as you stepped toward her.She was bigger now than even her usual toothless-sized dragon form. Her front legs ended in paws that resembled more taloned hands than true paws.She was huge now and she was so angry and hurt.

“The humans harmed my soul sister!” She keened, the sound of her keening broke your heart.

“Shh, dearheart, it’s alright now.I’m here, I’m safe,” you soothed her as you stepped carefully closer.She hunched like she was going to take a swipe at you.You knew she wouldn’t.She was scared, but she wouldn’t hurt you.You had to believe she wouldn’t hurt you.“It’s alright.Everything’s ok now.I’m here. I’m safe,” you repeated gently, determined to reassure her.

Determined to stop her.

You shouldn’t have let her kill all of these men.

You should have known better.

You saw the feral glint in her eyes.

You practically saw the considerations.

“No, soul sister. You are not safe.The humans hurt you.But I will make you safe,” Sera told you, cooing over you now like her child. 

Shit fuck damn.What did that mean?

“Sera?What do you mean, dearest?” You asked her gently, calmly, reaching out to stroke her nose.You had to calm her.

“The humans!” She protested at you, clearly frustrated that you didn’t understand.“I will keep you safe from them,”

“I’m safe now, Sera. The humans aren’t going to hurt me.It was the witch hunters. Not the humans,”

“All. Humans. Are. The. Same,” she snarled with venom in her voice.

Oh shit.

Shitshitshitshitshitshitshit

Fuck it all to hell. 

This was bad.

“No, Sera, no dearheart.Not all humans are the same,” you tried to reassure her quickly, but you saw that you weren’t getting through to her.“Our friends at the tower?The Avengers?They aren’t like the witch hunters who hurt me,”

“All humans,” she snarled. 

Before you could say or so anything else, she had grabbed you around the waist in one of her taloned front paws, and leapt out the hole in the wall she had made, taking to the skies with you held firmly in her grip. 


	39. Chapter 39

You heard Loki’s roar of anger, rage, pain as Sera took off out the window with you in her talons.You struggled in her grip, but she was a _dragon_ and wasn’t keen on listening to anyone.Even you. “Sera!! Put me down!” You yelled at her as you flew over the city. 

Loki couldn’t fly to follow you. 

You didn’t even care right now if Sera dropped you.You could summon your broom and save yourself.

You didn’t, couldn’t, trust Sera in this mood.

Not when her entire mood was ‘kill all the humans’.

/Sera, put me down!/ You ordered again, figuring she couldn’t hear you over the wind as she flew.You recognized landmarks across the city as the dragon flew.

You distinctly did _not_ like flying when you weren’t in control and knew now why Loki hated it so much.That was a thought for later.You had to figure out how to calm Sera down.

Before she did something unconscionable. 

You knew your duty if you didn’t get through to her in time.

You didn’t want to have to do that duty again.

But you would.

/Y/N!/ Loki called to you.

/We’re still in the air.I’m alright.I’ll let you know when we land.I don’t know what’s wrong with Sera/ you told Loki quickly as you nauseatingly watched the city go by beneath you.Sera had a firm grip around your waist, but was holding you so you were facing straight down to the ground, which was terrifying when you couldn’t move and were at the dragon’s mercy.It was a good thing she liked you.

She finally landed on top of the Avengers tower, but didn’t let you go until she had carried you inside, still caught in her claws. “Sera, please, let me go!” You pleaded with her.“We’re home.We’re safe now!” You begged.

/We’re back at the tower/ you told Loki.

But you were too late.Sera had thrown up shields around the entire tower.Shields you couldn’t break out of until your magic was stronger from your ordeal and shields Loki couldn’t break into.Her magic was strong and so unlike his that he wouldn’t be able to break in.

You could feel that no one was in the tower.They were trapped outside, just as you were trapped within. 

And this was the only safe place in the city if Sera went completely out of control.

Sera finally set you down just inside the building, setting you safely on your feet. You breathed a sigh of relief.She hadn’t done anything too terrible yet.Maybe killing all the witch hunters was technically bad, but forgivable for what they’d done to you, for how they’d hurt her by hurting you. 

But if she started hurting innocents.

You couldn’t let her hurt innocents.

“Sera, please, listen to me,” you begged the too silent dragon. She leaned down and nuzzled you, proving to herself that you were alright. “I’m safe now, Sera.I’m alright, I’m safe,” you reassured her, reaching up to pet her muzzle.“It’s alright, my sweet, my soul sister, everything’s alright,” you cooed to her, petting her and stroking her scaled nose, scratching the spot under her jaw that she particularly loved having scratched. 

Sera nuzzled you again, trilling happily.You were safe.She could relax some.You were safe and shielded in the tower.Especially with the two of you alone and no one able to get through her shielding.Or for you to escape. 

She was holding you captive here.

You would make some pun about the princess in the dragon guarded tower.

But you weren’t a princess

And no prince was coming to rescue you.

Ok, that wasn’t true.A prince was definitely coming to rescue you.

But what would he be able to do against a dragon.

What could any of you?

You had a chance once your powers replenished in full, once your black jewel was refilled with excess magic.

You prayed you didn’t need it.Prayed to every deity that might listen, including your Loki, that she could be reasoned with.

“It is alright now, soul sister,” she agreed, her voice warm and comforting. “You are safe and I will make sure you stay that way,” she promised.

“Sera! Sera what do you mean?” You asked her frantically, your voice edging on panic.You couldn’t help her unless you knew what she was planning.

She nuzzled you again.“The humans hurt you, my soul sister.They stole you away from me, made you afraid, hurt you, _branded_ you, and tried to make you do what they said!” She told you.

“They were.And you killed them Sera. The witch hunters are evil and you killed them and stopped them.They can’t hurt anyone ever again.Your job it done!” You insisted.

She shook her head firmly.“No.The other humans said you’re bad because you are mated to Loki.They want to throw you in jail or worse,” she told you firmly, a growl behind her words.

“It’s just talk, Sera.They aren’t actually going to hurt me,” you insisted. 

She growled.“They threaten what is mine,”

“Sera, no, it’s not like that,” you promised.She snarled. “What about Loki?What about our friends?Thor who is warm and full of cuddles?Natasha who feeds you fish and coos at you in Russian?Tony who we can throw out the window for fun and he makes the most amusing noises?Bruce who will pet you for hours because your purrs calm him? Clint who climbs around the air ducts with you?Cap who consults you on plans, because even if you don’t have answers for him, he likes talking things out?What about our family, Sera?” You asked her, desperate for her to see _some_ good in humanity.“The silly Doctor Magician who was so amusing when he realized you weren’t a cat?The witches and littles at the academy?”There were people here who needed defending.The littles.She had to agree that the students needed defending.

She growled and paced, considering your words. 

There was hope.

She was considering.

She was listening.

She looked at you again and patted your head with one of her front paws, an indulgent movement.“The humans must perish. But, I will spare your friends.For you, soul sister.”

“SERA, NO!” You screamed as she leapt out the window, disappearing on her mission.


	40. Chapter 40

“SERA! NO!” You yelled again, but the dragon was gone.

Shitshitshit. 

You had do to something about the out of control dragon and you needed to do it now.Before she did something unforgivable.You tried the door of the roof first, it was right in front of you after all, but it was sealed shut. 

You teleported to the lobby and tried the door down there, but it was sealed and shielded shut as well. 

You were trapped in a fucking tower because of a dragon.

This wasn’t a fairytale.

You tried contacting Loki by magic, but you couldn’t get any spells past Sera’s shielding around the tower.

You couldn’t teleport out.

You had to come up with another plan. 

You teleported up to the kitchen and started raiding the pantry of every vial of potion you’d stocked there.You didn’t know what you might need, so you gathered everything.You heard the TV from the other room.

TV!

You hadn’t noticed it at first since the TV was always on.Usually to news unless someone was actively watching it, but the TV was always on in the background.It was just static to life at the tower. 

If TV signals could get into the tower, then.“Jarvis?! Are you still awake?” You asked the AI. You’d picked up Tony’s habit of talking to the AI like he was a real person and truly sentient.Most of the tower had picked up the habit.

“I am here, Miss,” Jarvis replied.You sighed in relief. You weren’t completely alone and with a bit of luck…

“Are you still in contact with the rest of the team?With Tony?” You asked him, sounding almost desperate.You hated the desperation in you voice, but you had to act soon.You had to save Sera before she did something stupid.You _had_ to stop her, though you didn’t know how.

You needed sleep and to recover your magic before you could do anything really useful. 

You cursed the witch hunters for making this mess.

You cursed yourself for not seeing the warning signs in Sera.You knew she was too overprotective.You hadn’t realized she was _this_ overprotective.But that was neither here nor there.You needed to warn the others.They might be able to stall her until you could recover enough magic to catch up with her to reason with her hopefully or… stop her if it came to that.

You hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

But you would do what was necessary to protect the innocents.

“Yes.I can reach Mr. Stark,” Jarvis replied. 

You sighed in relief and summoned your comm device, slipping it into your ear.“Patch me in, J,” you told the AI and an interface screen came up in front of you.“Guys?Can you hear me?” You asked the team, hoping they would be able to hear you.

“Y/N!” Came a chorus over the comms.

You were so relieved to have backup.“Guys, I’m alright, but Sera… She’s on a warpath.I’m trapped in the tower while she’s decided she’s going to go kill all of the humans.She promised not to kill any of you, but I don’t know what she’s going to do,” you told them quickly.They took a moment to process that information.

“You’re ok?” Cap asked.

“I’m fine, Cap.Besides being locked uselessly in the tower.My powers are weak right now thanks to the witch hunters,”

“What can we do?” Stark asked you.

“I need time to recover. Loki? Do you have a comm?”

“Neither of the Asgardians carry them,” Nat told you.“The oaf is with us,”

“Find Loki.I’ll need his help to break these shields.Keep an eye on Sera.Try to keep her from harming anyone until I can get out of here,” you told them, begging them to help you save your familiar.

You wouldn’t have to put her down if you could get through to her before she did something unforgivable.

You begged to any deity that might be listening that you could get to Sera before you had to kill her.You couldn’t stand the thought of having to kill her. 

“We’ll do what we can.We can hold her off for awhile. Or at least distract her,” Cap reassured you. “And we’ll find Loki,”

“Thank you all.This is my responsibility and I hate that it’s falling on your shoulders,” you told them earnestly.Dealing with your out of control familiar was your responsibility.It shouldn’t fall on your friends to deal with. 

You could barely think past the bone-numbing exhaustion.You needed to lie down soon.

“We’re a team, kid.We all help each other.We’ll find boyfriend and send him to help you.In the meantime we’ll distract the dragon.We have things handled out here,” Stark reassured you.The entire team chimed in to agree.

“Thank you all,” you told them and ended the connection.They’d call you if they needed you.You summoned all of the witchcraft supplies you had in your dimensional pocket and spread around the tower, spreading them over the coffee table to try to form a plan.There was nothing you could do until you got your magic up to full charge.So you went to the kitchen and devoured the rest of the leftover pizza and laid down on the couch in the living room with the news playing a report of the Avengers seeming to fight your dragon.She wasn’t trying to hurt them, you saw, she was trying to capture them.

You let your eyes close, knowing that your friends, and the rest of the humans were safe. 

For now.

Hopefully long enough for you to get some rest and recharge your magic. 

“Jarvis, wake me if something happens,”

“Yes, Miss,”

With that taken care of, you passed out on the couch with the news playing in the background.

*

You woke to a loud crashing noise upstairs and curses that weren’t in English.You jumped to your feet and teleported up to the roof where you saw Sera land holding a squirming angry Loki in her claws.She shoved him through her shielding and flew off. 

“Lokitty! You’re ok!” You called to the angry snarling god and rushed over to him, wrapping your arms around him.He hugged you back tightly. 

“Are you alright, darling?” He asked you as he held you too tightly. 

“I’m alright, just locked in the tower waiting to be rescued by a handsome prince,” you told him, joking to reassure you both that you were alright. 

He chuckled.“Well, I’m here, but I’m not doing much better on the rescuing front,” he teased you back.You laughed at that and everything seemed much less dire with Loki here.You stood up on your toes to kiss him.He held you to him and kissed you back.You could tell he was grateful to have you safe in his arms again.

Things were dire, but there was still hope.You had Loki to work with now. The two of you would be enough to face down Sera.He was a Master Magician and you were the brightest witch of your age.You had Loki’s thousand years of experience and power on top of your own power and the power stored in the black gem. You could handle this.You just needed a plan.

“Well, time for the handsome prince and self-rescuing princess to team up to escape the tower and face the dragon,”


	41. Chapter 41

You and Loki walked back into the tower hand-in-hand.You squeezed his hand, grateful that he was with you.You’d face this together, though you both knew the most likely outcome.You didn’t want to admit it.Not yet.Not until you absolutely had to.Sera didn’t deserve to die.Not unless she did something irredemable.Threatening the human race wasn’t enough.

You hoped she wouldn’t get to that point.

You didn’t have a lot of time to stop her.

You and Loki made your way to the common room and sat down on your usual couch. The news was playing in the background, but you still had to ask.“What happened?What’s going on out there?”

Loki sighed and looked heartbroken.“Sera has broken.She believes that all of the humans need to be destroyed to keep you safe.The magic students are all locked in the school. She seems to be leaving them alone. Right now, she’s focused on finding the team and bringing them here.That’s what she told me when she was carrying me here,” he explaiend. He looked sad and you understood why.He knew and accepted better than you were that you were likely going to have to kill Sera.She was too far gone.

“That gives us time if she’s hunting the team first,” you replied with relief in your voice.

“Magelet…” Loki started, then stopped when he saw your expression.He’d let you have your delusions awhile longer.He saw that you knew what you were likely going to have to do.You just didn’t want to admit it yet.It was in the back of your mind and he saw the tears threatening.If you didn’t have to think too hard, you could make the preparations.

“We need to come up with a plan.I owe her one last chance to talk her down before I take drastic measures,” your eyes lit up and you reached up to the comm in your ear.“Guys, Sera is after you.Go to ground and hide.She won’t hurt you, but she won’t attack the rest of the humans until she’s found you and brought you safely back to the tower,” you told the team.That would buy you more time.

“You’re sure?” Cap asked.

“Yes, Cap.She already brought Loki here and told him her plan on the way,”

“Let us know when you need us. We’ll go to ground until then,” he reassured you and disconnected. 

You sighed.“I really need to come up with a real plan, not just buying time…”

“We. You do not have to face this alone, magelet,” Loki reminded you gently.

You nodded, but there were tears in your eyes.“She’s my familiar, my responsibility.It was my duty to raise and train her and if I failed, then it’s my duty to save everyone else from her,” you told him softly, needing him to understand.He did.You saw in his eyes that he did.

“I know, my darling, but that does not mean that you must face this task entirely alone,” he told you and pulled you into a hug.You wrapped your arms around him.

“Thanks, Lokitty.I appreciate it,” you replied and kissed him softly.When you broke the kiss, you saw that his cat ears and tail were back and you couldn’t help smiling brightly at him and reaching up to scratch behind his cat ears to make him purr.His eyes closed and he leaned into your touch, purring softly. It was so easy to make your attention and touch-starved Loki happy.A little bit of affection and he was in heaven. You pet him for a little while before you admitted: “Lokitty, I desperately need some rest to recharge my magic.Can you keep watch and keep an eye on the news?” you asked. You hated relying on him, or admitting your weakness, but you needed his help now.

He nodded and kissed your forehead, urging you to lie down on the couch, to lay your head on his lap.His fingers stroked your hair.“Rest, darling.I’ll keep watch,” he bid you, his voice a soft purr.You closed your eyes and drifted off, safe in his arms, and free from worry for the moment.

Sera wouldn’t attack the humans while she was keeping her promise to protect your friends.She wasn’t that far gone yet.You needed rest, all the preparations you could make, and all your wits about you to make sure she stayed that way.

The other option was too grim to consider.

*

You woke a few hours later to find that Loki wasn’t under your head anymore.You jolted up and looked around for him.“In here, darling,” he called from the kitchen.He was at the over pulling out frozen pizzas from it.You joined him to help.Loki sucked at cooking, but even he could manage heating up frozen pizza.You were both starving.Asgardians were always hungry and you had recharged your powers while you slept.You needed to eat to replenish your energy. 

In short, those pizzas were doomed.

“Any news?” you asked Loki when you’d finished and taken care of the dishes. 

He shook his head.“Our friends are doing well at hiding.Even my oaf of a brother. Sera has been hunting for them, so she hasn’t harmed any innocents,” he told you and you relaxed with a sigh of relief.You had time.You still had time.

“What supplies do you have for taking down a dragon if it comes to that?” you asked Loki.Your time for stalling and rest was over.You had to get to work now.The pair of you went back to your collection of potions and weapons on the coffee table.Loki added way too many daggers, a pair of impressive looking swords, a variety of other weapons with the promise that he could summon anything you thought would help, and his own collection of potions.You both summoned all the books on dragons you had to mull over their weaknesses. 

Slowly, you gathered a plan.One neither of you liked, but you had a plan. 

The next problem was getting out of the tower. 

You split up your potions between you and Loki in your dimensional pockets, strapped on your weapons and grabbed your broomstick.That was the part of the plan that Loki didn’t approve of.He didn’t want to fly, but it was necessary when fighting a dragon.He even consented to taking your spare broom so he could fly on his own if necessary.You hoped it wouldn’t be necessary.He was only planning on using the broom if he was falling.He couldn’t teleport while falling. You had also bound the ring you’d give him with the necklace he’d given you.You could already find each other through the protections spells you’d laid on the gifts when you’d exchanged them, but by binding them together for this confrontation you could instantly teleport to the other’s side. You were leaving nothing to chance.

You made your way up to the roof of the tower, your hand in Loki’s.Sera’s shield was just ouside of the door to the roof, so you could step outside to break through her shielding.“Ready?” you asked Loki.He inclined his head as he gathered power around him.You tapped into the power stored in the black gem on the back of your hand.You and Loki both reached your free hands out to the shield, attacking it with your combined power.You’d worked together with Loki magically often enough that it was simple to combine your power, to work together. It took work, Sera was strong.You and Loki were stronger.You punched a hole through her shield and stepped through. 

The hole sealed itself again the second you were through. 

A deep breath, another, and you steeled yourself for what you had to do. You unwrapped your broom from around your wrist and mounted.“Are you ready for this, magelet?” Loki asked, his voice concerned.He knew how difficult it would be for you if you had to take down Sera.He didn’t want that for you.

You nodded.“As ready as I can be.This is my duty.She’s my responsibility,” you reminded him.He nodded and kissed you softly.

“I am in this with you, my love,” he reminded you.

“Thank you, Lokitty.I don’t think I could do this alone.Not again,” you admitted.You were strong, but your heart could only take so much.

“You do not have to do this alone.You don’t have to do be alone anymore, my darling,” he reminded you and kissed your forehead. 

You sighed in relief.“Thank you, Lokitty.I don’t know what I’d do without you,”

He gave you a warm smile. “You would do what needed to be done with or without me.My presence will simply make it easier,” he replied and shifted to cat form to hop on your broom with you. 

You kicked off into the air, using your bond with Sera to track her and fly towards her location.

Like it or not, it was time to face the dragon.


	42. Chapter 42

Loki huddled in your lap while you flew.You kept one arm wrapped around him, holding him to you tightly.You knew how much Loki hated to fly. You also knew he trusted you to keep him safe.So you kept a firm grip on him with one hand and a firm grip on your broom with the other as you flew the pair of you to wherever Sera was. 

She was hunting for your friends and kept moving.You couldn’t get a lock on her.You hovered in midair and pressed a finger to the comm in your ear.“Guys, I need you to draw Sera out of trying to track you down to save you. Meet me at mom’s house.I’ll drop the protections on it before you get there.Thor, when you arrive, draw down the biggest lightning bolt in the history of lightning bolts.I’ll come the second I see it,” you told them.You were beyond thankful when you heard the reassurances from the team that they would meet you at your mom’s house.

It was far enough outside the city to be safe to fight a dragon if it came to that.No civilians would be hurt.You’d have plenty of room out there.And nothing important would be destroyed.

“Hold on, Lokitty,” you told the cat in your arms and sped off towards your mom’s house.Loki stiffened and cuddled closer to your chest as you flew.You didn’t really have to rush, you needed to stay far enough out to wait for Thor’s signal.You couldn’t let Sera know you were here and out of the tower until the bait was here.Until she was there and you were ready to spring into action.

So you flew to a building within easy teleporting range and sat on the roof with Loki, waiting for Thor’s signal.Loki’s arm was around your shoulders.“Do you have a plan, love?” he asked you gently.

You nodded. You’d been over this with him already, but it made sense for him to ask again, to make sure you were really ready to do this.You weren’t, but you would do it anyway.“I do.I’m going to try to reason with her first.I owe her that much.I’m prepared to do my duty if that doesn’t work,” you told him softly, fighting back the tears at the prospect.Loki’s arm around you tightened and he pulled you to him, kissing your temple.

“I will help you, magelet.You don’t have to face this alone, no matter what,” he reassured you as he held you safe in his arms.

“Thanks, Lokitty.But, if it comes to that.It’s my responsibility,” you reminded him.He kissed the top of your head.

“I know, darling.But that does not mean that your friends, your family, will not aid you.We’re here for you, my love, and we are in this together.What’s happened with Sera, it is not your fault,” he reassured you.

You whirled on him. “But it is!I was supposed to guide her.I was supposed to teach her and protect her.I was supposed to make sure nothing like this ever happened!!” You protested loudly with tears in your eyes.You’d failed your familiar.

Loki pulled you into his arms and stroked your hair.“Shh, magelet.It is not your fault.She is a sentient creature and grown for all that she is less than a year old,” she was full grown, which happened with magical creatures. “She knows everything you do.You said that was part of the imprint when she hatched.She knows what she’s doing, love, and she’s making this decision of her own free will,” he reminded you gently.You sniffled and looked up at him. There was a question you wanted to ask, but you couldn’t.Loki saw it in your eyes, though.“This is unlike my situation, darling.I was tortured and forced to Midgard under mind control to take the tesseract and rule the realm.Sera is making these decisions on her own accord,” Loki told you gently.“It’s not like my situation at all,” he hugged you to him and you wrapped your arms around him. He pressed a kiss to the top of your head. 

You curled in Loki’s arms until a huge bolt of lightning drew down from the sky.There was no mistaking it, that was Thor’s signal.Especially when there were no other clouds in the sky. You stood and Loki stood with you.“That’s our signal.Ready?” you asked him, checking your weapons one last time.

You knew in the back of your mind what this was going to come down to.

He nodded and took your hand in his.“Whenever you are,” Loki replied.

You squeezed his hand and nodded.Time to get this over with.He teleported the pair of of you to your mother’s house where you saw Sera confronting the entire team.She wasn’t hurting them.She looked to be trying to figure out how to get them to come with her.They were all in uniform and all armed.You thanked every diety who would listen for that piece of luck.You might need their help if this went poorly.

Good.

You rushed in between the dragon and your friends, holding out your arms to shield them.“Sera, stop!” you told her firmly, putting all the power and authority you could into your voice. 

Sera paused and looked at you confused.“Soul sister?You should be safe at the tower,” she told you sounding upset and disconcerted. 

“No.I should not.You should not be killing all of the humans.It’s not right Seraphina!” you told her firmly. “They haven’t hurt you.They’re innocent.I will _not_ let you kill them,” you added. You had Loki at your side and the entire team behind you. 

That didn’t make the prospect of facing down a full-sized dragon any less terrifying. 

And this was the biggest you’d ever seen Sera. She was huge and hulking over you.Her claws were huge, her teeth bared. 

And she was a fire breathing dragon. 

And you were the one standing in front of her goal.

You saw in her eyes that she wasn’t going to give up.“Please, Sera.The humans are innocent.You killed the witch-hunters who hurt me.It’s over now,” you begged, trying one last time to get through to her.

“No. You are wrong, soul sister.The humans have hunted your kind for all of existence.I share your memories.I know this to be true.They will continue hunting you.You will not be safe until I destroy them all,” Sera told you firmly, her voice a roar that nearly had you off your feet.

“Sera, no,” you told her again, but you saw that she was lost.There was only one thing left to say. “I love you, but I cannot allow this.If you want to kill the humans, you will have to go through me,” you told her and drew your sword.


	43. Chapter 43

Sera considered.You watched her consider her actions, consider the people she’d met, consider your words.You could feel the gears turning in her head. You felt her make a decision.But it was a decision fueled by hated and by grief.

You’d been hurt.

Her soul sister had been hurt.

Branded.

Injured and drugged.

You’d been hurt.

And so she’d been hurt.

And that she couldn’t forgive.

You saw the decision and steeled yourself for what you had to do.

Sera roared, breathing fire and the group behind you took a step back.You didn’t blame them for being afraid of the dragon. Loki stayed by your side, though he was so weak to fire.You wanted to send him home and protect him, but you knew that would be just as bad as what Sera was trying to do to you. Loki wouldn’t appreciate being defended while you fought the dragon alone.Just as you wouldn’t in the same situation.

You heard the others draw their weapons.“I will kill them all,” Sera snarled and roared her fury.

You stared her right in the eye when her roar ended.

You had to do this.

You couldn’t stall any longer.

It was your responsibility.

So you straightened your spine, gathered your courage, and spoke strongly and clearly: “I repudiate you Seraphina.You are not the sister to my soul.You are no longer bound to me,” as you spoke, you used your magic to sever the bond between you.And Sera cried out in pain as tears spilled down your cheeks.You did it anyway.You had to.“You are no longer my familiar.You’ve changed Sera and are not the dragon I claimed to be mine,”

“Soul sister-” her voice was plaintive, pleading as she felt the pain of the bond between you breaking.

You snapped it as fast as you could.It was better to rip the bandage off.It hurt like hell.It ripped at your soul to snap the magic between you.There was no describing the feeling of anguish of tearing your soul from hers.There was no describing the immense loneliness of her not being in your mind and soul anymore.

There would be time to mourn her loss later.

For now, you had a job to finish.

“I repudiate you, Seraphina,” you repeated and she wailed her grief.

Her expression hardened.You had now hurt her too.“Then you shall die with the rest,” she snarled and threw flames directly at you. 

You were up on your broom in an instant, hauling Loki into the air with you by a tight grip on his arm.You only flew far enough to get out of the range of her flames before you set Loki back on his feet.He gave you a nod of thanks as magic shimmered around his hand, his dagger in the other.You stood up on your broom, sword bared in your hand.

“Don’t let her escape!” you told the others and the fight began.

You hated that your friends had to help you, but you couldn’t face a dragon alone.The jewel on the handflower on your hand glowed as you drained the power in it ruthlessly.Loki used his ice magic to combat Sera’s flames.Stark and Thor kept her grounded.Bullets flew.Anything to keep her here.To keep her grounded and still so you could do what you needed to.

You flew in a circle around the dragon, dropping a circle of magic and potions around her while your friends kept her distracted.It was essential to the spell.There was only one way to do this.Sera roared and tried to swat you out of the air, but was distracted by Tony blasting her in the face.She roared again and swatted at him.She tried to take to the air, but suddenly the Hulk was there, pinning her down.You could have sighed in relief.

The Avengers were great at working together.They’d never trained to fight a dragon, but they’d fought giant beings before. 

And they just had to keep her distracted and in one place.

The rest was up to you.

So the Hulk kept her pinned down. You stood in front of her while she roared and fought with the Hulk.You turned to Loki.“I need Gleipnir!” you called to him.This was part of your plan.Loki nodded and summoned the silver ribbon from his dimensional pocket and tossed you one end of it.

This ribbon had been used once before to restrain Fenrir the giant wolf.It was the only thing strong enough to contain an enraged dragon.You hadn’t asked Loki how he had it or why, but you were glad that he did. 

“Be careful, darling,” he told you, gripping his end tightly.

“You too, Lokitty,” you told him.

He gave you the tiniest smile.It was an expression meant to reassure.This was hard for you and you were fighting back tears the entire time.You had to do this.There was no choice.Sera was trying to kill you all and after you repudiated her, you weren’t sure you were safe from her anger.“Together.We do this together,” he reassured you.You nodded, relieved.You could handle this with Loki by your side.

“Together,” you agreed and you and Loki both ran toward the dragon.Your friends held her still while you bound her in the silver ribbon.It took all of you working together to get her bound in the ribbon.You and Loki had to move quicklyamong your friends, jumping over and around the dragonto bind her so she couldn’t attack you anymore. 

You were all breathing heavily when the dragon was subdued.When she was snarling, bound in a silver ribbon, panting with effort as she tried to get free. The dwarves had crafted the ribbon well and it was unbreakable.Sera was trapped until you freed her. 

You placed a hand on her muzzle.“I’m sorry I failed you, my Seraphina,” you told her softly.The group remained spread around the pair of you, ready to jump back into action if she somehow got free.Loki stayed by your side, just in case.He trusted the dwarves’ craftsmanship, but he would stand by you for what came next. 

Power glowed around the hand you had placed on Sera’s muzzle.You locked eyes with her and drew even more power, draining the power reserve jewel on your hand dry as well as every other ounce of power you could. 

This spell you were using was one of the most advanced spells there were.

It was not undertaken lightly.

It was a lot less difficult the last time you’d done it.That had been a cat who’d gone astray.This was a dragon.And she fought the spell with every ounce of her being.

But she deserved this.

So you drained your power ruthlessly and finally the spell took as power flowed around you.You were actually glowing and your hair floating in the non existent breeze.Your eyes glowed purple with your power as you forced the spell to take hold.

The power shimmered around the dragon, flowed and sparkled and condensed and settled into her.There was a flash of light and the silver ribbon dropped away. 

Your hand was on a dragon egg. 

You fell to your knees and picked up the egg, cuddling it to your chest.“You deserve a second chance, my Seraphina.I’m so sorry I failed you,” you told her as tears fell down your cheeks.Loki knelt beside you and his arms wrapped around you to comfort you.It was over now.Everything would be alright.

“What did you do to her?” Stark asked, gently for Tony, when your tears had eased.

“Instant reincarnation spell.I’ll give her to the Witch’s Council and they’ll rehabilitate her when she hatches, give her to a new witch who will give her a second chance,” you explained.You weren’t sure they understood, but Loki did and the two of you could explain it better to them later.For now, all they needed to know was that Sera was no longer a threat.

You stood to head home with the team.

Or at least that was your intention.

Instead the world turned black around you as reality swam and you passed out.Hard.You’d spent all of your magic reincarnating a dragon.“Shit! Magelet!” Loki grabbed you as your knees buckled and you remembered nothing after that.


	44. Chapter 44

You woke briefly to strong arms lifting you to a sitting position, cradled against and cool chest as a glass was placed against your lips.“Drink this, darling,” Loki’s voice told you gently as he held you up and held the glass to your lips, as he helped you drink the potion inside.“You used too much power. This will help,” he said softly, his voice soothing and gentle.

Or was it just soft because you were already fading back to sleep?You couldn’t tell

“Good girl,” Loki praised when you drank the potion obediently.You were too drained to even open your eyes.You’d drained your power and all the reserves in the jewel on your handflower.And you’d still only barely had enough for your task.Loki eased you gently back on the bed and tucked the blanket around you.“You did a goddess’ work today, magelet.I’m proud of you,” he told you warmly and pressed his cold lips to your forehead. “Rest now, my love.You’re safe and your task is done,” he bid you gently.

You sank back into a dreamless sleep

*

When you woke again, you felt a weight on your chest.You opened your eyes and saw a black cat curled on top of your blanket, purring loudly. You smiled and slowly sat up, resettling the cat in your lap instead of one your chest. He protested, of course, but that’s what one expected of a cat, so you weren’t at all surprised.“Hey, Lokitty,” you told him as you scratched behind his ears. 

He cracked an eye open, made a soft ‘mrrt’ sound of greeting, and curled back up in a ball in your lap.You laughed and pet him for another minute, scratching behind his ears until he was a purring puddle of lokitty in your lap.

You pet the lokitty in your lap until you saw the dragon egg sitting on your dresser, safe in a basket.Your expression fell when you saw it and Loki noticed when his pets vanished.He looked up at you and mrowed softly in question.You sighed and stroked his fur. “I failed her, Lokitty,” you said softly as you cuddled him close.“She was mine to guide. She was the sister of my soul, and I failed her,” you told him with tears spilling from your eyes.

The lokitty climbed off your lap and turned back to his usual mostly-human-shaped form, though he kept the cat-ears and tail. You didn’t know if he couldn’t get rid of them, or just didn’t feel like it, but that didn’t matter at the moment.At the moment all that mattered was him enveloping you in his cool arms, cradling you to his equally cool chest, rocking you gently while you sobbed out all of the heartbreak and pain of severing the bond to your familiar, of repudiating her, of using the spell to turn Sera back into a dragonet in an egg, to give her a second chance.

Loki held you in his arms while you sobbed over the loss of your familiar.He, more than anyone, knew how much she meant to you. You knew it when you had woken up to him in cat form on your chest.When he was in cat form, he could give you some of the same benefits you got from a real familiar.He could ease the symptoms of her loss affecting you, of the loss of magic and bond.

He was doing everything he could to ease your pain and help you feel better.So he held you close and rubbed your back, stroking your hair as he murmured soothing words in English and eventually switching to the fluid court Asgardian. His words, his tone, his lovely silky accent all worked together to do their job and eventually your tears slowed.

“I know the wounds will take time to heal, magelet,” Loki told you gently, still holding you safe in his arms. “You did the right thing. You gave her a second chance.And what she chose to do was not your fault or your doing,” he reassured you.

You sighed heavily and extricated yourself from his arms.“You’re right,” you said softly.

He chuckled and kissed the top of your head.“I usually am,” he told you with a smirk and you couldn’t help a small laugh at that. 

“Silly princeling,” you teased him back and he was laughing as he leaned in to kiss you softly.

“I’m so relieved that you are alright, my darling.I was so worried when you were taken. I thought I was going to lose you forever,” his words were soft and you heard the real fear in his tone.“I should’ve been out there with you,”

“Loki, it was just a shopping trip.It should’ve been safe.It’s summer and you’re a frost giant.We hadn’t heard anything from the witch hunters in months. There was no reason to think they would have drugged me and kidnapped me,” you reminded him gently.It wasn’t his fault you’d been taken, though you knew he would continue to blame himself. He’d been hiding from the heat in the air conditioned tower. 

Loki lifted your hand, looking at the horrible mark that had been tattooed onto your skin with magic as well as ink.“They branded you with a symbol of evil, because I was not there to stop them,” Loki said mournfully.

You sighed as you finally looked at the horrible symbol on your hand.The ink was bright and fresh and the evil symbol was clearly visible, clearly legible despite how you’d struggled and fought.“I’m sure we’ll find a way to get rid of it,” you said softly, though you were sure of no such thing.You hadn’t studied the kind of black magic it took to create such a mark.

Which was necessary to know in order to know how to break the mark.

At least you didn’t have to worry about the compulsion spells in it.You could feel that they were dead with their caster.

“I need to take Sera’s egg to the Headmistress.She can get it safely to the council.She might know of a way to get rid of this,” you gestured to your hand.Then you realized how grungy and gross you felt.“Though maybe I should get a shower first…”

Loki chuckled. “You were asleep for two days straight, Magelet. That might be a wise idea,” he told you warmly. 

“Two days??” you demanded.You really had been drained in order to sleep for two days straight.

“You used a deadly amount of power fighting the witch hunters and then Sera, especially with only a small nap in between.It’s a miracle you only slept for two days,” Loki told you reasonably.“I don’t know of any other Midgardian witch who could have done that.Or who could have given Sera a second chance,” he reasoned.

You nodded.He was right, of course. You looked at the handflower on the back of your untattooed hand.It was full of magic again.At least you didn’t have to worry about running out of power again anytime soon.

“Go get ready, Magelet. After you eat something, we will head to the magic school. We can also ask Strange,” he rolled his eyes.“Or head to Asgard and ask Mother if she has any ideas,”

You sighed in relief.If anyone might have an idea how to get rid of the tattoo, it was Frigga.Traditional laser removal wouldn’t work with magic imbedded in the ink.So you had to find another way. You climbed out of bed with stiff limbs from sleeping for two days and took care of human needs, most especially a stupidly hot shower.You dressed in teacher’s robes since you were going to the magic school and had to keep up appearances there, even if you weren’t working today.

You looked at Loki, who was lounging on your bed, when you returned. “If I remind you that it’s summer and 12,000 degrees outside which is deadly to frost giants, is that going to affect your decision to come along with me in any way, shape, or form?” you asked him.

He smirked as he stood fluidly from your bed, his extremely attractive teachers robes shimmering into place as he strode over to you.“Not one bit, Magelet,” he purred as he leaned down to kiss you.

“I didn’t think so,” you replied and stood up on your toes to meet him halfway.It meant a lot to you that he’d risk his own discomfort to make sure you didn’t have to face going to the magic school and searching for answers alone.

It meant more than you could say or put into words.

So you put it into the kiss instead


	45. Chapter 45

You picked up the dragon egg and headed downstairs with Loki to grab a bite to eat before you headed out to the magic school.The team was in the dining room already and you passed the egg to Loki so you could greet them.They were all so anxious and worried.You didn’t blame them, you’d been asleep for two days recovering from recent events.So you hugged them all and reassured everyone that you were alright. 

“Where are you off to?” Cap asked, concerned when he saw you in real people clothes and not pajamas.You and Loki both took your seats at the table for Clint’s delicious pancakes. 

“The magic school.Loki is coming with me,” you reassured them quickly before they all started blowing gaskets.“We have to take the dragon egg to them. Hopefully they can find a new witch to pair her with,” you explained.

“I don’t understand.Isn’t she _your_ dragon?” Tony asked. 

You sighed. “She was.I repudiated her for her actions, broke the connection between us,” you explained to them.“She wanted to destroy every human on earth, and that included me when I refused to agree with her. The spell I cast gave her a second chance.She’ll be reborn and assigned a new witch and hopefully do better with them and proper training than with me,” you knew you were a strange case.You hadn’t taken up any kind of normal witch job and that had probably hindered Sera.She needed structure and guidance and you could offer her neither. 

Tony nodded his understanding, but Nat pushed the issue.“You need to get a new familiar,” she announced in a manner that left no room for arguing. 

You blanched and fought not to hyperventilate at the suggestion.“Not yet,” you told Nat, trying to fight back the feeling of panic welling up in your chest.You couldn’t fail another familiar.Not now.Not so soon after Sera.You couldn’t fail another one.You just couldn’t. 

“Your mental and physical health go to hell without one,” Nat reminded you.She actually liked you and wanted you safe and happy.You appreciated that the assassin liked you, but she wasn’t helping right now.

“I know,” you admitted softly.“I know, it’s just… the loss is hard and I’m not ready to take on another familiar yet,”

Clint ruffled your hair.“It’s ok, kid. We’ll accept your new familiar when you’re ready to choose one,” he reassured you.You smiled up at him, grateful for the reassuring words.They’d accept no matter what creature you brought into their lives. 

“Can you try for a cat this time?” Stark teased and you fought not to huff. 

They didn’t get it. You didn’t want another familiar.Not now.Now ever.

You couldn’t fail another familiar.

Not like you’d failed Sera.

Tears welled in your eyes and you looked down at your plate.“I’ll try,” you said softly. Loki’s arm went around your shoulders, pulling you close.

“It will be alright, darling. I can mask the symptoms for you for a little while,” he reassured you softly, gently, and you nodded.Loki in cat form could stave off the symptoms of being without a familiar.Not all witches needed familiars to help them, but you’d had one for centuries.And you had so much magic that you needed the emotional support they brought.

That didn’t mean you wanted another familiar.

Ever.

You finished your breakfast and vanished the dishes.Loki did the same and the pair of you stood. You carefully lifted the dragon egg into your arms and Loki’s arm went around your shoulders.“I will teleport us,” he told you and you nodded, letting him take care of this piece of magic.You knew it made him happy to take care of you and you could let him this time.

Green magic shimmered around you and a moment later you reappeared outside of the shield around the magic school.You took Loki’s arm when he offered it and the pair of you walked through the shield into the school.“Where to, magelet?” Loki asked, unsure of your plan.

“The headmistress’ office. She’ll be able to give the Sera’s egg to the witch’s council to be rehabilitated and she’s our best shot on Midgard, besides Strange, of how to remove this mark from my hand,” you explained and summoned a pair of gloves to hide the mark on your hand with.It wouldn’t do to have the kids see it and panic.It wouldn’t do for the adults to see it either.You nodded politely to the people you passed, but headed straight for the headmistress’ office. 

Your grip on Loki’s arm was firm, betraying your nerves.He pressed a kiss to your hair.“Everything will be alright, darling,” he reassured you as you approached the office.You dropped his arm to knock on the door.

“Enter,” came the headmistress’ reply. 

You opened the door and nervously stepped into her office, cradling the dragon egg to your chest as you did.The office was comfortable with a huge desk and way too many books in the shelves around the room. She looked up at you and Loki as you entered and she jumped to her feet to rush over to you.“Y/N! We were so worried!” she told you as her arms wrapped around you.

“Thank you, headmistress,” you told her and hugged her back with one arm.She led you over to the comfortable chairs in front of her desk and you set the egg on your lap as you caught her up on everything that had happened.It took a long time to tell her everything, but you finally caught up to recent events and through what you had done to Sera.

“What do you require of me?” she asked when you’d stopped talking.

You set the dragon egg on the desk in front of you.“Can you see that she’s taken to the witch’s council and given a proper second chance?I don’t think all hope is lost for her, if she can be taught properly from the egg,”

You saw tears in the headmistress’ eyes, at knowing what you’d sacrificed and knowing that you were trying to do your best by the dragon who had been the sister to your soul.“I will see that she is given a second chance.It was kind of you to give that chance to her, not many witches would,” the headmistress told you.

You nodded and squeezed Loki’s hand for reassurance, which he offered readily.“Thank you, headmistress.There’s one more thing I could use your help with,” you added, hoping against hope that she had a solution for you.

“What is it, dear?” she asked. She, along with many of the senior witches had a soft spot for you. 

“Do you know of any way to get rid of this?” You carefully stripped off your gloves and showed her the mark in magic ink on the back of your hand. 

You tried not to cry at her gasp of horror at how you’d been branded by the witch hunters.

At the hated symbol inked on your skin. 


	46. Chapter 46

The headmistress stared in horror at the mark on your skin.She didn’t seem able to comprehend it.You wanted to cringe back and hide from her disgust and anger at what had been done to you.It hadn’t been your choice, of course.You hadn’t chosen to be branded by witch hunters. 

Especially not with compulsion spells in the ink.That wasn’t a comforting thought.You had no way of knowing if Sera had killed all of the witch hungers.You couldn’t imagine that they were actually all gone.There had to be more than just that one location of them.You didn’t want to meet other witch hunters and find out the hard was that they weren’t all dead, or worse that the compulsion spells were still active.You could fight them if you knew they were there and being activated, but only if you knew and were prepared.

You really didn’t want to tempt fate by leaving compulsions spells etched into your skin.

You saw the headmistress steel herself to look more closely at the mark on your hand.She had to force herself to look.The mark didn’t want to be looked at.Not by someone who wasn’t a witch hunter.Not by someone who couldn’t control the compulsion spells in it.

She finally shook her head. “This is outside of my abilities to remove.Curse breaking isn’t my specialty.” You couldn’t help the heavy sigh as you put your gloves back on to hide the mark.“Speak with Professor Nakayama.She studied curses and might be able to help,” she suggested.You nodded and stood.

“Thank you for your help and for taking care of Sera,” you told her as Loki stood at well and took your hand. 

“Of course,” she replied.

You and Loki left her office and went to track down Professor Nakayama.She was the infamous professor with cat-ears too.She adored Loki since he wore them just as she did.Loki had been stuck with them for awhile.Now it was preference since he knew you liked them and had gotten used to them.You didn’t mind one way or the other, but he wore them on Midgard because he knew you liked them.It was adorable that he did it for you. 

She looked over the mark too and was equally horrified by it.She was also equally unable to fix it.

You went to ask Doctor Strange and he was just as stumped.He stopped you before you could leave the sanctum, though.“Pick a new familiar.Soon,” he told you urgently.“Bad things happen to witches who go without, especially since you had one as strong as a dragon.You won’t be able to survive without one,”

“I’ll be alright, Doctor.Thank you for your concern,” you told him with a lie.You wouldn’t be alright.You knew it.You had too much power to be without a familiar.It was worse now that you’d had a dragon for a companion.You needed a familiar to keep your sanity, to keep your emotional and physical health. 

You couldn’t have another familiar.

You couldn’t fail another one like you’d failed Sera.

Like you’d failed Maria all those years ago.

You couldn’t fail a third time at raising a familiar.

“Darling, we should return to Asgard,” Loki told you gently when you left the sanctum. 

You stood on your toes and kissed his cheek.“We should, Lokitty,” you agreed warmly, trying not to let him see that Strange’s words and warning had affected you.

It didn’t matter that Strange was right. 

You wouldn’t take another familiar.

You wouldn’t.

“Perhaps Mother can find a solution to that mark,” Loki didn’t like you being marked anymore than you did.

You nodded and returned to the tower to prepare for your trip to Asgard, Strange’s words still echoing in your mind.


	47. Chapter 47

You told Thor quickly that you were returning to Asgard to see if Mama Frigga could come up with any solutions to the mark on your hand.He agreed without complaint.You weren’t expecting that he would complain about returning home.You packed quickly to go to Asgard and planned to leave the following morning. 

Which left a long night of worrying, fretting, and praying that you would be able to find some cure for the cursed mark. 

Or it would have, had it not been for your amazing friends. 

Of course they knew you were suffering, knew you were mourning the loss of your familiar.It didn’t matter that she was being reborn, that she wasn’t truly dead. You were still without a familiar.You tried not to let them see how much that affected you, how much you needed the emotional support of the magical creature. How much her loss hurt you.

But they knew. 

They were your family.Of course they knew.

You had planned on hiding in your room mourning over recent events, taking everything in and finally dealing with the emotional aftermath.You figured that Loki would spend the evening supporting and comforting you.Hell, you slept in the same bed more nights than not and had for months.Your room had become a shared space at some point and you weren’t quite sure when that happened. 

So you were expecting Loki, who sat beside you on your bed.His arm was around you and you both pretended to watch what was on the TV.Instead, you wrapped your arms around him, taking comfort in his presence, his purrs, his reassurances.He was so supportive and caring and you couldn’t believe you had gotten so lucky.

You _weren’t_ expecting the knock on your door after dinner. You looked over at Loki, your eyes puffy from crying over Sera.He nodded and kissed your forehead.He would deal with whoever was knocking.He stood from the bed and went to the door, cracking it open.He spoke quietly to whoever was on the other side for a moment, shielding you from view as he did.A moment later, the door was shoved further open and Loki was bowled over as Nat came into the room.

“Lady Natasha!” Loki protested, but he wouldn’t hurt her, so he got bowled over so she didn’t hurt _him_ to get him out of her way.Poor Lokitty defeated by a tiny redhead who he couldn’t fight.It was not only suicide to fight Nat, but she was a lady and Loki was a prince.He wouldn’t fight a lady unless more thoroughly provoked than her barging into your room.

She gave you one look and grabbed your hand. “C’mon, you’re not sitting up here wallowing with boyfriend,” she told you firmly and dragged you out of bed.

“Nat!” you protested.She proceeded to ignore you and dragged you from your room and down to the common room.You could have made her let go.

If you were suicidal

The entire team was gathered around the common room.They sat up with you all night. You played games, told stories, consumed a few adult beverages to ease your nerves.You laughed and cried over the stories you all told and you couldn’t be more grateful for their support.

*

The next morning you, Loki, and Thor made your way back to Asgard, taking the Bifrost bright and early as soon as Loki vanished his cat ears and tail. 

You wondered briefly if Heimdall ever slept? Or was he just always there in the Bifrost chamber?That was something you’d have to find out at some point.You felt bad for the guy if he never got to sleep.He greeted you as you returned to Asgard and you made your way back to the palace, cooing over your mare as you mounted her to ride to the palace.

Loki helped you down from the saddle and you made your way straight to the healing wing and Mama Frigga.She hugged Loki when she saw him, kissing his cheek.He didn’t even pretend to be embarrassed this time. 

You spent a long time telling her everything that had happened since you left Asgard.Or at least it felt like a long time, since everything was so horrible: the return of the witch hunters and fighting Sera.Frigga listened with the gentle caring calm of a healer as you told her what had happened.She didn’t judge you for what had happened.She did no more than coax you to keep talking when your words failed and offered you plenty of tea while you spoke.

“Let me see the mark,” she said gently when your story was over.You stripped off your glove to show her the symbol inked in your skin. 

You saw Frigga recoil, cringing back from the inky, slimy, disgusting feeling of the spells.She waved a hand over it, investigating it with magic without touching the cursed mark.“I’m sorry, darlings.This is beyond my skills to remove,” Frigga told you gently.

“There’s nothing you can do?” Loki asked, horrified.His mother was supposed to be able to fix anything, any magical problem.She was the queen.She was his mother.She should be able to fix any problem he came to her with. That she wasn’t able to was rocking his world in a way he couldn’t accept.“Please, there must be something!She can’t keep that mark,”

Frigga sighed.“There may be a way, but it’s a long shot…”

Loki jumped to attention “Anything.I’ll do anything,” he wouldn’t let you suffer and wouldn’t let you keep compulsion spells etched into your skin.

“Very well-”


End file.
